Who's The Child Here Redux
by Madam Mimm
Summary: An editted, redone version of one of my older stories. An argument spirals out of control, and the Warners find themselves distant from each other. Now, with lives and families of their own, will blood prove thicker than water?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: So I posted this story a few years ago, and due to various personal issues it got abandoned right before the conclusions. But now I'm back, I think my skills as a writer have improved, and I still know exactly how this is supposed to end. With all of these in mind, I have decided to edit, improve and repost this, and hopefully you guys will like it even more.**_

_**Now, without further ado, on with the story:**_

A green suitcase covered in kitschy floral patterns was open on the bed, waiting to receive the last few items of clothing. Dot, however, was busy tugging at the belt loops of her faded denim jeans, in an effort to keep them up over the slight curve of her hips. _"Stupid hip-huggers..."_ She carefully folded the last of her shirts, and placed them in the old green suitcase, with the others. Her fingers trembled slightly as she smoothed the soft cotton, looking around her room for the last time. The posters on the wall brought flashes of her childhood and adolescence to mind. Lethal Weapon, Mission Impossible, some boy-band who she never really liked but had stuck over the lilac walls to cover up where her brother had somehow managed to spill glow-in-the-dark paint. She crossed over to her wardrobe, and opened the door. Her reflection stared back at her, and so did a picture of her six-year-old self. She was older now, and taller, but there was still a sweet, naive... cuteness. She'd grown up to be quite an attractive young 'toon, but carried herself well and behaved like a lady.

_"Like a princess."_

Spending her childhood in a room in a tower, encountering strange beings and stranger directors, she chuckled to herself. She really had been a princess. She reasoned with herself that she still was, really, although in a slightly different way.

"You sure you want to do this?"

Dot jumped as the voice cut through her thoughts. She spun round, looking at her brother. He stood in her doorway, looking more anxious than she'd ever seen him. She rolled her eyes and hugged him tight, familiar warmth comforting both of them.

"I've got to do this, Yakko."

"I know." he sighed, resting his chin on the top of her head. Of course, for every inch she'd grown, he'd grown too, so he was still about a foot taller than her and it looked like that was how they were both going to stay. Dot didn't mind, though. She looked up at him, in black slacks and a brown jersey. He was still as quick and witty as ever, and all time had done to him was give him a bigger vocabulary and more chances to use it. "I hate the thought of you leaving, sis."

"Oh, we've been through this." She sighed in frustration, closing the lid of her suitcase and putting it with two others. "I can't stay here, Yakko. I just can't. All my life I've been The Warner Sister. I want more than that. I want a name of my own. I want a life of my own. I love you and Wakko, but I want to go out and be my own person." She looked at him, exasperated, before picking up her bags and walking towards the door of the tower. "This is a once in a life-time opportunity. Scholarship to TAPA is something you don't turn down."

"I know!" Yakko called, running after her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her, smiling. "I'm just gonna miss you, that's all."

They smiled at each other, but were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"All aboard for the last train to Toon Town Academy of Performing Arts" drifted through the door, in a noticeably scouse accent. Dot laughed, and pulled open the door, to hug Wakko, who was leaning on the railing outside and grinning at her.

_"We're all so grown up."_ She thought, looking on as her brothers carried her suitcases down to the car. Yakko, twenty-three years old, was now composing and writing songs for the studio, plus making a tidy salary on the side from writing children's books... Wakko, twenty years old, was making a name for himself in the live entertainment circuit, and was unofficially living with his girlfriend of two years, a cat-toon called Tellulah. And even she, Dot, the youngest at eighteen years old, was now on her way to the Toon Town Academy for Performing Arts, one of the most prestigious universities in Toon Town when it came to specialising in performance. She was finally going to step out of her brothers' shadows.

The car ride was as fun as they always were, with arguments over the music and which way they were going. The entrance into Toon Town was, by nature, hectic, as 'toons came both ways on both sides of the road, and sometimes the ceiling. But it wasn't until they arrived at the gates of TAPA that the Warner siblings realised that, from this moment on, they would have parted ways. As Dot stepped out of the car, she felt a little weak at the knees. She looked at the majestic building, taking in the smooth stone and tall towers. It was every bit like a medieval castle, but with modern additions like a swimming pool and satellite dishes. As she stared at her surroundings, she felt her stomach back-flip.

"Hey princess!" Wakko grinned from behind the trunk of the car. "Don't forget your luggage."

She smiled as she walked to the back of the car, but Yakko grabbed her by the shoulders again, and grinned at her.

"Now, sister sibling," he smiled cheekily, "there are a few things I want you to know. First, although this is a great honour, it is also a great danger. There will be many things at this place which will tempt you, but I know I raised a princess, not a swine."

"Yakko..." Dot blushed, noticing some students were milling around the grounds. They were also looking and pointing. This was not the kind of impression she wanted to make. "Quit it. You sound like you're my dad or something. Look, I promise I'll be on best behaviour. No experimenting with anything."

"Good. You had better mean that." He sniffed, handing her the suitcases from the trunk of the car. "And watch out for the guys. They only have one thing on their minds."

"Believe us." Wakko chuckled, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We know from personal experience."

"You mean you have minds?" She smiled in mock surprise, but Yakko shook his head.

"No, I'm being serious. An attractive young girl like you..."

"Oh stop it, Yakko."

"I'm just saying. If you get in any trouble or you need us for anything, we can be right over here, and..."

"No!" She gasped, backing away from her brothers and dropping her cases on the sidewalk. "No, absolutely not. Look, guys, please... Just promise you won't turn up here, you won't create a scene... I don't need you guys reminding people that I'm the sweet little Warner Sister when that's exactly the image I came here to get away from. Please, let me handle this my way. If I call you, and I ask you to come, you can consider yourselves invited. But I'm eighteen now, and I need to start being an adult. I need to do this on my own. Please?"

She looked up at the two of them with large, honest eyes. The Warner Brothers might have thought of protesting, but they bit back any comments and nodded.

"We'll miss you, kiddo." Yakko mumbled, pulling her into a hug again.

"Yeah. Don't forget to write." Wakko hugged her too, a sheepish smile on his face. "Or call, email, text, whatever, for any reason, any time. Especially gossip. Tellulah said she wanted all the dirt on the stars of tomorrow." He hugged her tighter, sticking his tongue out at her as she moved away and picked up her cases.

Dot smiled at her brothers, and said goodbye one last time, before taking a deep breath and walking through the gates of TAPA.

_"This is my realm now. New dragons, new knights... and a new princess."_

Wakko beamed as he looked at himself in the mirror, admiring the new jumper that fitted his reflection perfectly. Like his siblings, he had, over time, lost the look he coined on their show, instead opting for clothes that served a more practical day-to-day use. He himself had grown fond of a button-up shirt (although, still blue) a black leather jacket and jeans. But now he was wearing a fleecy zip-up hoody, which was a vibrant blue with a red hood, and was possibly one of the most comfortable items of clothing he had. Spinning round, he wiggled his eyebrows at the grey shorthair cat 'toon who was watching him from the couch, her long, dark curls of hair hanging in front of her anxious blue eyes.

"You like it?" She smiled, a slight southern accent to her wavering voice.

"I love it, 'Lu." He smiled, wrapping his arms round her and kissing her.

"Oh, good, I'm so glad." She smiled, looking relieved. "I thought it might be a little too odd-looking..."

"`Too odd looking`?" Wakko repeated, sinking back into the couch. "It's me. I like odd. I love odd. I am odd!"

"Yes, but you're not odd-looking." Tellulah smiled and kissed him again, this time for a little longer. She sank down next to him, so that they were both curled up, staring at each other. "So, have you had a good birthday?"

"Well..." Wakko mused, resting his chin on one hand, and holding her delicately gloved fingers with the other. "You're here; we are very much in love..." He kissed her again, and she giggled, her long grey tail flicking playfully. "I got a phone call from Dot earlier, wishing me happy twenty-first. I think she was between classes 'cos she seemed in a hurry." He explained, although he had a feeling that wasn't strictly true. "So all in all, yes. I think this has been a very wonderful birthday."

"What about Yakko? What did he get you?"

"Oh... umm..." Wakko broke Tellulah's eye contact, scratching his neck awkwardly. "Well..."

"Didn't he get you anything?" Tellulah sounded shocked. Wakko, however, hadn't been shocked in the slightest to discover his brother had forgotten his birthday. It wasn't the sort of thing he'd usually do, but since Dot left, and his publisher rejected his last few manuscripts... not to mention the musical director being less than pleased with his last few recording sessions... Yakko hadn't been his usual self.

"Well." She sat up, glaring at the door as if expecting Yakko to walk in at any moment. "I think that's downright rude. I've got a good mind to-"

"No, 'Lu, please." Wakko grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her back down next to him, his eyes full of concern. "Look, you and Yakko make up two thirds of the most important people in my life. Now you get on just fine with Dot so there's no problem there, but if you can't get on with my brother then it would present me with a problem."

"I know sweetie, but for him to forget your birthday?"

"He's had a bad couple of weeks." Wakko lowered his voice, shooting glances at the back of the door in case Yakko chose that moment to walk in. "You've seen him since Dot left. Anyone can tell he's been having a few problems."

"Hmm..." Tellulah softened a little, but soon shook herself out of it. "Even so, you're his brother and if he can't remember something as simple as your birthday, I wonder if he cares about anyone but himself."

"Don't say that!" Wakko sat up, looking offended. "All my childhood, Yakko was there looking after me and Dot. He was the one raising us, teaching us what we needed to know and taking charge. I think, after giving up most of his childhood to look after us, he's allowed to forget a few birthdays, don't you?"

Tellulah looked at Wakko with her large blue eyes, shocked at this outburst. After what seemed like a long silence, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, her head bowed.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Forget it." Wakko cleared his throat and stood up, looking a little shaken. He grabbed his coffee mug from the table, and moved it to the kitchen. Tellulah sat in silence, listening to his movements. After a while, his voice drifted back to her. "It's been a tough week for all of us, really. Especially after that mess at TAPA..."

Wakko sighed as he remembered the previous Sunday afternoon. Yakko and Wakko had decided that after two weeks of not hearing anything from their sister, they would go and check in on her, just briefly, to make sure she was ok and didn't need a hand with anything. They had wandered over to the reception desk, taking in the very grand hall, with high ceilings and tall windows, and walls covered in expensive-looking oil paintings. This is where legends such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Simba were said to have trained. Disney wasn't usually Wakko's thing, but even he had been little upset when he'd first seen the "father don't leave me" scene.

It certainly seemed like a particularly fancy drama school. The students who read lines in the hall were just that little bit more convincing. The ones who practiced dance steps on the lawn outside were just that little bit more disciplined. And the receptionist in the office was just that little bit more condescending.

"Can I help you?" She was a rather plump, rather old, grey haired and horse-faced lady. She was a 'toon, of course, but there was nothing funny about her.

"Uh, we're here to see Dot Warner?" Yakko smiled at her, but for all the good it did, he could have thrown a pie in her face.

"Wait here." She barked before getting up from her wheeled office chair and shuffling slowly across the office. Yakko grimaced and turned to Wakko.

"There was a panty shot I did not want to see."

"Eew, what were you looking there for?"

"Sue me; it's a force of habit." Yakko grinned and winked roguishly at his brother. "Besides, with a surface area that big it's hard to miss."

"Thanks for that nightmare fodder..." Wakko muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey... Hey guys! Yakko! Wakko!" They heard a familiar voice echoing through the hall, and looked up to see a pink bunny in a yellow "TAPA" jersey running towards them.

"Babs!" They grinned, as both of them were hugged by their old acquaintance.

"How's things?" Yakko grinned, looking her up and down. Taller, older but just as smiley as she ever was on her show, Babs was a sight for sore eyes.

"Oh, same old." She smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Working for a degree, trying to keep up with the workload and still have a social life."

"You and Buster still together?" Wakko grinned. Babs seemed so much more mature now, so much more intellectual than the bumbling pink rabbit from Tiny Toons.

"Yeah." Yakko grinned. "Last I heard you two were at it like-"

"If you finish that sentence, I will tie your ears in a knot." Babs scowled, her eyes flashing like cold steel, before melting into laughter at Yakko's stunned expression. Then again, Wakko mused, perhaps not.

"Buster and I have been... on again, off again for a while." Babs shrugged, looking a little sheepish. There was a tense silence while everyone tried to think of a way to get around this obviously quite tender subject. "So what are you two doing here?" Babs smiled, after what felt like way too long.

"Just visiting our dear sister sibling." Yakko grinned.

"Oh! I haven't seen Dot much, but she seems to be settling in just fine."

"Hey Babs!" A rather snotty sounding dog 'toon ran up to Babs, eager to get her attention. "I just found out that... Oh my goodness!" He sniffed, looking at Yakko and Wakko. "You're... you're the Warner Brothers! Oh, I loved your show when I was a kid! I'm Sidney, and... Hey, guys!" He yelled over to a group in the corner, who all looked rather amused. "Guys, the Warner Brothers are here!"

"Um, yeah, Hi... Sidney, was it?" Yakko smiled, but it was only just big enough to hide the look of total disgust. Recently, Yakko had not been in the best of moods, and Wakko could sense that dealing with fans was possibly something his brother couldn't deal with right now.

"Look, Sidney." Wakko cut in, trying to keep the peace. "We don't want any fuss; we're just here to see our sister."

"Your sister?" Sidney sniffed, as the group of people approached. "Oh my goodness! Dot is _the_ Dot Warner? We thought it was just coincidence! Man, I've been acting alongside the Warner Sister for two whole weeks!"

Wakko grimaced. Maybe he should have let Yakko talk.

"Hey, can you still sing the songs from your show?" Someone yelled out in the crowd.

"Yeah, do the geography one!"

"No, Variety Speak was my favourite!"

Wakko looked at Yakko, who shrugged.

"Can't let the public down, Wakk. Besides, what harm could it do?"

As it turns out, it did a lot of harm. Wakko, who had opted to sit out and chat with Babs, had seen Dot enter the main hall, looking very confused as groups of students crowded round Yakko for his famous geography song, "The Nations of the World". Just as he reached Burundi, Dot spotted him. Her look changed from confusion to surprise and then to anger, which only deepened when Sidney saw her and yelled out "Hey guys, it's the Warner Sister!"

Yakko had stopped dead, slightly taken aback by his sister's glowering stare. Wakko had never seen her anywhere near this angry, and was very much in fear for his life, but all the same he followed her when she gestured for both of them to go outside. No sooner had they left the hall and the door closed behind them than she turned on them.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, looking angrily from one to the other. "I made you swear you wouldn't come unless I invited you. I'm getting along fine and then you two buffoons just come storming in and ruin what I had. Now, thanks to you idiots, everyone knows that I was the Warner Sister."

"Hey, there's no need to get insulting." Yakko had fired back, but Wakko was quick to step in and attempt to defuse the situation.

"Look, we just came to wish you well, was all. Make sure you weren't missing anything." Wakko looked at her steadily, and she seemed to calm a little. "Now, we didn't know it'd bother you this much. I'm sorry. We'll just go, now." He smiled, and stepped back. Dot softened slightly, and smiled appreciatively. She had probably been about to apologise, when Yakko piped up.

"No, hold on, Wakk." Yakko growled, glaring at his sister, who returned the look with just as much force. "Sis, we were doing a good thing. You can't just expect us not to worry. You can't be angry at us for worrying."

"Well I am." She continued to glare, defiantly. "I don't want to be the Warner Sister any more. I want to be Dot, who can be independent of her lug head brothers."

"Hey!" Wakko didn't like to be insulted, least of all when all he'd tried to do was keep the peace.

"Well, I don't know who you think you are but the Warner Sister never acted like this, you stuck up brat." Yakko spat.

"I'm not stuck up." Dot retaliated, a little hurt by this remark. "I just assumed my brothers would be able to keep such a simple promise."

"Not stuck up? Hah!" Yakko laughed. "This from _"Princess Angelina"_? Hah. Some princess."

"Yakko, Dot, let's just calm down..."

"No, Wakko, someone needs to tell her." Yakko pushed his brother aside, and pointed at Dot, his hand just a little too close to her face. "You never were a princess, you never will be. Reality check time, sis. I can put up with almost anything from my siblings. Heck, over the years I have. And I've accepted it, and accepted you because that's what we were. Siblings. But if you aren't the Warner Sister any more, then I guess I don't have to put up with your ego. I can treat you like I would any other snob who's too self obsessed to care about anyone else."

Wakko raised his eyebrows. Everyone knew Yakko could be scathing at times, but he'd never be outright rude, especially not to him or Dot. She seemed genuinely hurt as she sniffed back tears, turning her back on Yakko, who was still fuming.

"You know what, fine." She muttered, tears choking her voice. "But we both know who's acting childishly here. I know what this is. You're looking for an excuse to yell at me, to punish me. To make me seem like the little kid you still want me to be." A note of anger crept into her voice, and it grew steadily, until she was almost shouting. "But I'm not a kid, Yakko. I'm not that little girl. I don't need my brothers looking out for me. And if you're behaving like this, then maybe I don't want you looking out for me either."

And with that, Dot had gone back to the hall of TAPA, probably to find Babs, and Yakko had returned to the car. The drive home had been silent.

Wakko pulled out of his reverie by Tellulah stroking his cheek.

"Honey?"

"Oh... sorry... flashback." He smiled, awkwardly.

"I was saying, are you staying here again tonight or are you coming back to mine?"

"I think I'd better stay here." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I don't want to leave Yakko on his own right now. He wouldn't say it, but I know he's upset."

"You're a sweetheart." Tellulah whispered, nuzzling his red nose with her own petite pink one. "It's a shame though. I was hoping on giving you your other... present."

"But you already gave me..." Wakko trailed off as he caught the meaningful look Tellulah was giving him. He broke into a smile and wiggled his eyebrows, yapping playfully. Tellulah giggled again, wriggling as he pinched and tickled her. She looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed.

"I should probably get home."

"Alright..." Wakko sighed exaggeratedly, pouting. "I suppose I'll just have to wait for that present. Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

They left the tower, descended the ladder and walked across the lot to Tellulah's car, which was parked by the gates.

She and Wakko kissed each other goodbye, and Wakko turned and left, just as Yakko entered the lot. Tellulah noticed he wasn't completely sober.

"Hi 'Lu." He smiled, leaning on the hood of her car.

"Hi." She smiled, but didn't make eye contact.

"You heading home?"

"Yeah, it's getting late."

"I'll say. You know there's something I don't get, what's a cheeky little kitten like you doing with a goober like my little brother?"

"I care about him. I love him. Which is more than I can say for some." she muttered the last part, causing Yakko's drooping ears to drag themselves up.

"Beg pardon? Could you mumble your accusations a little louder?"

"It's just you forgot his birthday, Yakko."

"Did I? Dang, I knew there was something..."

"Your brother is one of the sweetest, most kind-natured people I've ever seen. But if you ask me, you're starting to take advantage and you better come up with something special to win him back."

"So I'll get him movie tickets or something. Why do you care?" He walked closer to her, and Tellulah had to stop herself from gagging at the smell of alcohol he brought with him. "You don't honestly like him, do you?"

"I love him." She glared at him, her eyes shining like shards of ice.

"Pfft." Yakko rolled his eyes, leaning on the car next to her. "Love doesn't last. All that happy ever after stuff might sell for Disney, but in the real world, there's no such thing. Take, for example, my dear old parents who, one day, dropped me and my sibs outside a care home in Toon Town. Were we told why? No. But just one day before, we had been labouring under the impression that parents loved their kids. Ours sure didn't." He looked at her, but his eyes swam blearily. Tellulah's scowl changed in to a look of shock. How drunk was he?

"And that's not all!" Yakko continued, his voice getting louder. "No, no... My sister, whom I raised and cared for, and loved so very deeply... My sister told me not one week ago that she hated me and that she did not want to be my sister any more. I loved my job, but I'm now in fear of losing that, and if there's anything else that I love, it's probably destined for the same miserable future. So... What was my point?"

"I don't know, Yakko, but I think you should get back to the Water Tower..."

"Aha! Yes, thank you!" Yakko waved a finger in the air, his voice still getting louder. Tellulah looked around hurriedly, hoping no one would see them together. Not when he was in this state. She tried to hush him, but Yakko carried on anyway. "My home, which I have lived in for... years now, may not remain mine for much longer. If I can't compose for the studio, I'm not making them money and if I'm not making them money then they don't want to know. There is no love in this world, everyone just takes what they want and don't care about what comes next or who they have to tread on." Yakko turned and stamped his foot, but slipped on the curb of the sidewalk, and fell over. Tellulah gasped, and hurried to help him up, trying not to breathe in too much.

She threw his arm over her shoulder and tried to help him up, but Yakko had other plans. He gripped her shoulder and looked at her.

"Kiss it better, sweetie?"

"Yakko... get off..." Tellulah flapped at his hands, but was too flustered to think clearly. His grip just got tighter and the more she pulled away the more he tried to grab.

"Come on... If you like Wakko, I'll be ten times better; he's just a chip off the ol' block..."

"Yakko, please, let me go!"

"Tellulah, sweetie..."

"Yakko please..." Tellulah began to sob, her eyes wide with fear as he grabbed her other wrist and pulled her towards him. She couldn't see a way out of it, she was scared blind...

"Hey, get off her!"

Tellulah spun round, and nearly collapsed out of sheer relief as she realised Wakko had come back, and was pulling her away from his brother. He hands were shaking as she stood behind him, silent and shocked. Wakko didn't have his customary grin. His eyes were dark, and his shoulders shook with rage. Yakko looked down on his brother, blearily.

"Ah come on, we were just having a little fun..."

"Fun? _Fun?_ Are you off your head or something?" Wakko fumed, advancing towards his brother and glaring hard into his eyes. "How could you even think about doing that? Doing it to anyone, let alone your brother's girlfriend."

Yakko tried to return the glare, but looked down at the floor, and put his face in his hands.

"Wakko, I don't feel too good..."

"I don't care!" Wakko shoved his brother's shoulder, forcing him to look up. "You should feel like the jerk that you are! I've been cutting you slack lately, but there is a difference between being a flake and being an emotional wreck, Yakko. I don't know what's going through your head to make you act like this, but I don't think I can handle it."

Yakko looked at him, his eyes still slipping in and out of focus.

"What... what are you saying?"

"Man, I've been looking out for you, looking after you and fixing your mistakes for weeks now. You need to sort your head out and I can't help with that. Maybe I could have, but after what I've just seen..." Wakko looked at his brother for a second, a terrible silence as a million different phrases and emotions raced through his mind. After a while, he sighed, and looked away. He spoke quietly, but clearly. "I don't know you any more, Yakko. I don't think you know, either. I'm staying with 'Lu tonight. Maybe for the rest of the week, too. Heck, maybe forever. Give me a call when you get sorted out, yeah?"

Wakko pushed past him and leapt into the driver's seat of Tellulah's car. She gladly walked over to the passenger door, on the other side of the car from Yakko. Yakko stood, staring blankly. He didn't yell, or plead... he didn't even put up a fight. He just stared, an immense sadness in his eyes as Wakko and Tellulah drove away, out of the Lot, out of the street, and out of his life. He stumbled blindly back to the tower, and shut the door behind him. He made it half-way across the living room when angry tears began to roll down his cheeks. He leant against the wall and slipped down to the floor, covering his face with his hands. What had happened to him? Going out, getting drunk, and picking fights... And Tellulah... Unable to hold it in any more, he sobbed, his body shaking as tears gushed across his cheeks. The clocks ticked over to midnight and Yakko remained, sat against the wall, crying until he couldn't cry any more. He dragged himself up to his feet, gazing around the silent tower. Empty. His eye fell on the yellow plastic phone sat on the kitchen counter. His breath came unevenly, still forming sobbing sounds, as he dialled the only number he could think of.

The ringing buzzed in his ear, until it passed over to voicemail. Taking a deep breath, he tried to steady his voice a little.

"Hey, it's me... Yakko. Look, I know it's late, but I'm... I'm kind of messed up right now. I just need someone... I don't know, someone to talk to. Call me back when you get this message. Thanks..." He was about to hang up, when he heard a voice on the other end of the line.

"Yakko? What's up?"

"Babs... Hi..."

"Yakko, what the hell?"

"Did I wake you?"

"Well, yeah, but... you sound awful, what's wrong?"

Yakko licked his lips, trying to work out how to tell her that he'd ruined his entire life.

"I... It's gone. It's all gone, Babs. I had everything I could ever want, you know? And my own stupid pride made me lose it all." with his free hand, he pressed the heel of his palm into his eyes, worried that there were more tears coming.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been in trouble at work lately. More than I was letting on to Wakko and Dot. I don't think I've actually been paid for a song in the last two months. Money's been a bit of a problem for me... And they hate me Babs. They actually hate me!"

"Who? Wait, Wakko and Dot?" Babs' voice was utterly sympathetic, which somehow made him feel worse. He honestly didn't feel he deserved sympathy. He could hear her walking around as she talked, background noise of Toon Town being filtered out as she closed windows. "Oh Yakko, they'd never hate you."

"They do! And I deserve it." He bit his lip, feeling an icy fear grip his heart. It was like it was squeezing all the blood out, and with it making him confess to all the things he'd done.

"Yakko-"

"No, I do! I was so afraid of losing them... All the stuff we had when we were kids, it was perfect. But they're grown up now. I... I was awful. I've actually been trying to make them stay with me, take away any other option. I..." His voice wavered as the familiar ache crept into his throat. He sniffed back tears. The end of the line was silent.

"Yakko." Babs spoke resolutely, taking control of him. "I want you to have a bath or a shower, or just wash your face. Do something to freshen yourself up. Then I want you to go to bed. You're tired and it won't help matters. I'll be over tomorrow morning and we can talk about it all face to face, alright?"

He managed to sniff an agreement, before putting on his brave face.

"Thanks Babs. You're awesome."

"I know." She joked, but her voice was still heavy with concern. "Now go on. Freshen up and get to bed, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled slightly as he put the phone down and turned off the living-room light. The Tower was silent again.


	2. Chapter 2

Yakko had always relied on his words. When he was looking after his sibs, he'd told them stories to cheer them up. When he was bullied into a tight spot at the care home, he'd talked his way out of it, rather than throwing punches. On the show, he'd become pretty famous for his lengthy speeches and quick comments. Even in the adult world, writing songs and stories meant his life was all about communicating. And anyone could tell that Dot and Wakko had picked up on these skills; The Warners were known as a witty, intelligent family. But knowing what you should say and actually working up the guts to say it are two very different things. When pride is at stake, there's always a reason to avoid doing what you know you should. A card or two, for various special occasions, gets "forgotten" about, or you "never get around" to making that phone call, sending that email... soon, things like birthday presents, graduation ceremony notices, wedding invitations, news of career changes, location changes, births... they all just begin to excuse themselves, until a life apart just becomes the norm. You stop telling stories, you try not to remember. Perhaps, after all that, the good old days that you'd never admit you long for... perhaps they were just a dream?

"Dad! Wake up!"

Wakko sighed and rolled over onto his back, pulling the covers up over his eyes.

"Gerroff..." He mumbled, reaching out of the duvet to swipe half-heartedly at the source of the voice. "I got jet-lag."

"You can't have jet-lag for two days!" The voice was high-pitched but friendly, with a slight cockney accent. Much to Wakko's annoyance, it giggled.

Sighing, he pulled the covers away from his face, and looked up. The bright light made him blink a few times, but eventually his eyes focused on a white face, surrounded by smooth black fur which stuck out in spikes at the sides, topped with two puppy-dog ears, which flopped forward in front of a pair of dark eyes. The face grinned cheekily, and pressed its pale red nose against Wakko's.

"Alright." He sighed playfully, lifting her down off the bed. "I'm up." He looked over at Tellulah, her sleek grey fur shining in the morning light. "Oh, so mum gets to sleep in, that's fair."

Abbi looked up at him and grinned again, crossing her arms.

"Mum doesn't like USA breakfast day."

Wakko chuckled to himself, pushing back the dark blue quilts and standing up, before stretching, and scratching the white fur that had recently begun to grow further down his chin and neck. It gave him a sort of beardy look, and Tellulah had stated all it meant was he was officially a dad now, meaning beer bellies and bad dancing were soon to follow. Personally, he failed to see why that was a good thing. He walked across the laminate floor to get his black flannel dressing gown from the hanger on the back of the door. He looked back once more at Tellulah, who wriggled deeper into the pillows of the old-fashioned wooden double bed, then at the seven year old Abbi. The Warner genes were very prominent in her, although the white fur on her feet went a little higher up the leg than usual, and her tail was perhaps a little longer, but there was definitely a family resemblance. If her hair was neater, she'd probably look just like Dot, especially with that dusty pink skirt she had on... but then her personality was completely different. Abbi was really quite a tom-boy; she liked rough-housing and yelling and making mess. She didn't care for personal grooming or boys... not yet anyway, but she was only seven... and she had a habit of wearing Wakko's old hoody. It was the blue one with the red hood, which Tellulah had given him for his twenty-first birthday. It had shrunk in the wash last year, and Abbi had claimed it, although it was still miles too big for her (the sleeves hung about an inch and a half over the ends of her fingers).

Abbi cocked her head to one side, watching her dad.

"What?"

"Hmm?" Wakko shrugged. "Oh... Nothing. Come on; let's get started on USA breakfast day then."

Abbi cheered and giggled as she ran down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen, closely followed by Wakko. It wasn't a very large house, but it was roomy, and large bay windows and open-plan rooms meant it had a very light, friendly feel. When Wakko reached the centre unit of the kitchen, Abbi had already clambered onto one of the tall stools and was hammering her tiny gloved hands on the table. USA breakfast day was a long-standing tradition between Wakko and Abbi, and she made sure it was always honoured. For the past eight years, he and Tellulah (and Abbi, since she came along) frequently went on holiday to England, to visit members of Tellulah's family and go sight-seeing. It was always fun, but the morning after they returned, Abbi and Wakko delighted in having a breakfast made from things that you just couldn't find in England. American-style waffles, pop-tarts and other sugary junk that was no part of any balanced diet were usually on the menu, all topped off with fresh, California orange juice. Wakko winced as he saw Abbi pouring half a bottle of maple syrup on top of her waffles. This would mean three things. First, he would get in trouble with Tellulah for letting her eat too much sugar; second, he would also get in trouble for the mess they'd made of the clean white marble surfaces; and third, she would drive her teachers crazy at school today.

Over on the other side of town, the morning was off to a much quieter start. Birds flew lazily through the end of the dawn, past the high-rise building and across to the other horizon. Yakko stared out at the skyline view from his new penthouse apartment, wondering if he'd made the right choice. It had been eight long years since he last set foot on California soil, and waking up in Toon Town was a little bit unsettling. Still, he reasoned, the longer he left it, the worse it would have been. He sucked air in through his teeth as he caught his reflection in one of the polished window panes. Pale grey circles had formed under his eyes, although with the year he'd been through it wasn't surprising. He knew there was more to come. He imagined the black fur sticking out around his cheeks and the tips of his ears turning grey, his face wrinkling up and his teeth falling out... _Yuck_. Still, he'd managed to maintain a fairly svelte figure, and had a near perfect bill of health. He knew he was probably exaggerating his appearance. No one else would even notice these subtle changes, but he couldn't help feel a little old. He was on the other side of the big Three-oh, and heading unavoidably towards middle age, which he wasn't happy about.

His ears perked as he heard the quiet shuffle of footsteps on the thick, cream-coloured living room carpet. He smiled, and turned away from the skyline of Toon Town in the early morning, to see a tiny little girl shuffling across the living room towards him. Yakko swept her up in her arms and hugged her tight.

"Morning, sweetie."

"Morning, Dad." Her voice was a high pitched, trembling whisper. Yakko looked at his daughter, who smiled but didn't quite meet his eye contact. She was obviously his daughter, the red nose, white face and feet and slender tail told you that much. But her ears were slightly bigger and floppier than his, sticking out at the sides. Plus, the fur around her cheeks was a lot fluffier than his. In fact, though her fur was mostly black (except the face) it was probably what set her apart from her father, because the black fur of her forehead formed a tufty fringe over the white of her face, and the fur that stuck out from her cheeks was flecked with pink. When she smiled, she revealed slight buck teeth. All in all, she looked absolutely adorable, especially in her blue jeans and yellow tee-shirt with a pink flower painted on the front. But her big, dark eyes were sad and nervous, and spoke of a sort of wisdom and intelligence that looked out of place in such a young body. Yakko sighed, hugging her again.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this, Gabby."

"When will we see mummy?" The question was stammered, and although she was only six, Gabby knew it was an awkward one to ask.

"I... I don't know." Yakko sighed, looking out of the window again. "Whenever she phones up and organises it, I guess." He sighed. "You know we still love you, right?"

"Yes..."

"This wasn't your fault okay? It's just..." How could he explain something to her that he didn't fully understand himself? He bit his lip, thinking carefully about the next words to leave his mouth. "Your mum and I decided that... we wanted different things, and as long as we were married, we couldn't both have those things. And we decided it wouldn't be fair for one of us to be unhappy, and it definitely wasn't right to risk making you unhappy. Look... We both still absolutely love you to pieces, and you don't let anyone ever tell you any different. Not even yourself." Yakko nodded resolutely, making his ears flap about. Gabby giggled a little, and hugged him again.

He set her down, and walked over to the large black piano which stood by the window, with the seats arranged around it. Luckily, the living room was large so it fitted in quite nicely. He lifted the lid, and sat down, running a finger across the keys. He wiggled his eyebrows at Gabby, who giggled again and hopped up next to him.

"One quick song before I run you to school." Yakko smiled, playing a few chords. "You don't want to be late on your first day."

Gabby nodded in agreement, as Yakko began to play lively jazz chords, occasionally nudging Gabby with his elbow. He started shooting silly faces at Gabby, who joined in with an improvised melody.

"That's good." Yakko grinned, watching her fingers. "Glad to see you've kept your practice up."

"I like piano..." She smiled. "What song do you want to play?"

"Well..." Yakko smiled, working his way up the keys. "You know, I read an article in the paper today about Disney's next movie."

"Oh..." Gabby felt this was one of her dad's jokes. There were a few of them she didn't get, but she always liked hearing them, regardless. She worshipped her father. He was tall, and strong, but clever and witty, too. He always knew what to do, and would never fail to cheer Gabby up. Although she was always told by her teachers that she was ahead of most children her age, Gabby was very shy, and doubted she would ever be as witty or impressive as her dad. Sure, she could think up clever lines, but she'd never say them out loud. She looked up at him, and smiled. He was clearly waiting for a response. "Was it any good?"

"No idea, couldn't understand a word of it." Yakko grinned, easing off the keys.

"Why?" Gabby grinned, anticipating what would come next.

"Well..." he cleared his throat, and begin to play "Variety Speak".

_"In Hollywood they have a different language that they speak. _

_It's used by all the folks who went to school for just one week._

_It's found inside Variety, a magazine they use._

_And no one understands it when they read the movie news..."_

"Now..." He turned to Gabby, vamping the break between verses. "I'm going to need you to join in on this, 'cos I just can't hit all those high notes this early in the morning."

Gabby giggled and nodded, and they sang the song together, Yakko playing mostly but Gabby would occasionally join in. Yakko smiled as he heard his daughter singing. She had a beautiful voice, and could cover almost two octaves. It was funny; he'd never intended to teach her singing or piano, much as he'd never intended to teach her the old Animaniacs songs. But he'd started to teach her one or two of the more educational ones to help with school, things like Multiplication and the States song. He'd played them to her, and she'd asked more and more about the piano until he'd ended up teaching her scales and arpeggios, how to read music and how to sing. He'd also ended up teaching her some of the sillier Animaniacs songs, to cheer her up after a bad day at school, or watching a sad movie... or after she'd been upset by her parents arguing. He inwardly cringed, remembering how much they'd argued over the past year.

He'd tried to keep it as simple and polite as possible, but he had a feeling that hadn't been too successful. He remembered standing at the altar, declaring to the world that he, Yakko Warner, would take Barbara Ann Bunny for better or worse, "'til death do they part". All she'd taken him for was a ride down heartbreak lane. Luckily, since financial mess-ups had already threatened his happiness once, he'd learned to keep more of his money in savings; for the result of eight year's hard graft, the penthouse apartment was pretty much a steal. He brought his attention back to the song. As with all the old songs, he knew them so well he didn't need to pay attention to the words or the chords. They were almost automatic. He grinned at Gabby, who was bobbing along in time to the music. The song finished with a flare, and they both laughed. Yakko closed the piano lid and checked his watch.

"Just in time, too." He grinned, grabbing his coat off of the monochrome leather sofa. "Check you've got your bag, books, shoes, coat, lunch... brain..." Gabby nodded at each word, before grabbing his hand. Yakko took his keys off the hook on the wall by the front door, standing aside to let Gabby out. "First day of a new school, kiddo. And I don't know about you, but... ehh I've got a good feeling about this."


	3. Chapter 3

Gabby squirmed uncomfortably against the hard, grey plastic of the seat that was designed for someone three times more grown up than she was. She peered around the front office, the only sounds being the muffled static of the secretary's radio and distant shouts of kids as they enjoyed the last glorious minutes before school officially started for another year.

So this was Acme Elementary.

The Acme schools were supposedly the best for 'toons in all of America, starting with Acme Elementary, then moving on to Acme Middle and then Acme Looniversity. Looniversity was essentially a performance school, but at elementary level it was more about helping kids with all the normal lessons like Maths and English. They also encouraged students to find their own talent with basic cartoon skills, like spin changes and pie throwing. A lot of this was subjective, as kids could have a normal reading age but be excellent at pie throwing, so grade boundaries weren't a necessity. This was the way it was with most 'toon schools, with classes set on ability rather than age.

Gabby sighed, and smiled nervously at the skinny, angular secretary. The secretary sniffed and returned to slowly filling in forms. Gabby wasn't too upset by this. The woman looked like a walking ruler, except one hundred percent more likely to try and take your soul. Gabby bit back a giggle as she imagined the secretary in grim reaper-style robes, and wished she could tell her dad about it. He'd had to go to work, so couldn't stay and see the Principal with her. This made Gabby a little nervous, but she took a deep breath and told herself she had to be brave. She knew the Principals of all Acme Schools were famous actors from the old Looney Toons series, so it stood to reason the principal would be kind and friendly. However, she was still nervous, in part because no one had told her who the principal was.

A harsh buzzing sound shocked Gabby back from her thoughts, as the secretary motioned to the door.

"The Principal will see you now."

Trembling, Gabby stumbled down from the chair, and made her way over to the door. She pushed it open, into a large, square office with one wall covered in bookshelves, and the opposite one hidden by dark green curtains. Gabby decided to look at the thick, dark green carpet, instead of the huge writing desk that took up most of the room. From behind the desk (which was a damn sight taller than she was), someone cleared their throat. Gabby looked up, reluctantly.

All she could see, from her rather low down vantage point, was a pair of grey ears, sticking up towards the ceiling. Excitement sparking within her, Gabby silently cursed herself for being so small, wishing the ears belonged to who she thought they did. A lazy Brooklyn accent came from somewhere near the ears.

"Hop up in the chair, kiddo. Carrots may be good for your eyes, but they don't give you x-ray vision."

Gabby gasped happily as she clambered onto a chair, and was finally able to see a rather amused (but friendly) looking rabbit, dressed in a white business suit which was open at the neck, and... well, she assumed he was wearing pants, but she couldn't see as his legs were hidden by the desk. But either way, it didn't matter, because she was currently standing on tiptoe, in Bugs Bunny's chair, in Bugs Bunny's office, and about to be officially enrolled in his school. She grinned even wider as he shot her a wink, before looking around behind her.

"No grown-up with you?"

"No..." Why couldn't her dad be here? He loved Bugs' cartoons almost as much as she did. "Dad had to go to work. He wanted to stay, he really did, but his boss phoned him up and told him he had to go in. He was really sad as well, especially because he said he'd booked the day off, but..." Gabby blushed, realising she'd said all that very quickly, and it had come out in a garbled mess. She fell silent again.

Bugs raised his eyebrows, but stayed smiling. The poor kid was shaking, she was so nervous. Obviously the quiet type, which was a surprise as he'd been told she was top of the class at performance skills in her last school... He shrugged, and started leafing through the papers on his desk.

"Eh, that's probably for the best. Grown-ups only ask boring questions, they're not smart like you kids." He shot a quick glance at Gabby, who was hiding a giggle behind her hand. Well, she had a sense of humour, at least. "What does your dad do?"

"He writes songs." Gabby blushed again, her shyness taking hold of the reins, after that brief excitement. She let her fringe flop forward in front of her face, and plunged her hands deep in her pockets, managing to make herself smaller than she usually was. "For movie people."

"Ah." Bugs nodded, separating the papers into three piles. "An important job. So, Kiddo, you got a name? Or should I just keep calling you Kiddo? Kiddo?"

"Gabby Warner."

The irony of her name wasn't lost on Bugs, but he decided not to point it out. He focused on the surname instead.

_Warner... Warner...why does that ring a bell? _Other than the studio, he couldn't think of any Warners off hand. He shook his head, and picked up three of his sheets of paper.

"Well Gabby, I need you to give these to your dad when you get home." He handed her the papers, and she obediently folded them and tucked them into her strawberry coloured back-pack. "He needs to fill them out and send them back to me, just so the school has the details it needs about you. Now, these are yours..." He handed her two more sheets of paper, and stood up. "Ones a map of the school, the other's your timetable. Now, enough forms and pieces of paper..." Bugs stood, walking around the desk and helping Gabby down from the chair. Gabby smiled, but less in response to his friendly grin, and more to the fact that she now knew he was wearing dark blue jeans.

Bugs lead her out of his office and down the hall, through now quiet corridors.

"Now, I've been on the phone to your old teachers, making sure I can put you in the right class." Bugs shot a quick glance at the little girl again. She was looking around, trying to take in everything, clearly burning with questions she was too shy to ask. She looked up at him and blushed, looking at the floor again. "Seems to me..." Bugs continued, as if nothing had happened. "You're a year ahead of other kids your age in pretty much every subject." Gabby blushed furiously, her hands gripping the insides of her pockets.

"I'm normal in maths..." She said, sounding as though she needed to defend herself from these accusations.

"Hey kid, there's no shame in being smart." Bugs raised his eyebrows, as they came to a stop by one of the classroom doors. "An education is one of the best things you can get yourself. The world is run by smart people... But enough of me sounding like an after school special. Your first class is through there. Do you want me to walk you in?"

Gabby looked up at the door, half wanting Bugs to walk her in, find her a seat and ask everyone to be nice to her, and half wanting to turn and run away as fast as possible. Gabby bit her lip, and looked up at Bugs. He nodded, and pushed the door open.

A tall, lanky looking human 'toon was leaning against her desk, glaring angrily at the assembled rabble of children. The class was completely silent, all eyes on Bugs. This told Gabby that, three seconds before the principal had appeared in the doorway, it had been in uproar. Bugs raised an eyebrow at the class, before turning to the teacher.

"Miss Burnstien. You have a new student, her name is Gabby Warner." He said, simply, before stepping aside to let her in.

Gabby, shocked and unsure, edged into the room, feeling the eyes of the class rest on her, heavy and burning, before flicking back to Bugs.

"Good luck, kid." He smiled again, giving her the thumbs up and shutting the door. Gabby turned slowly to the teacher. The teacher gave her a non-committal glance, reached into one of the drawers on her desk and took out a text-book, still in its cellophane wrapping.

"There's a free seat by the window at the back of the class. Sit yourself down and if you have any questions, just put your hand up. Class, move on to page nine and this time "work in silence" means work in silence." The teacher shot an icy glare around the class as Gabby retreated quickly to her seat on an empty table at the back of the room. Hard part over, she told herself.

But there was one pair of eyes that hadn't watched Bugs. This pair of eyes had stayed on Gabby, watching her every move.

Abbi leant low over her text book, pulling the hood of her jacket so tight that it only left her eyes uncovered. Junior, a bulldog toon who took great pride in telling everyone his great-granddad was Spike from Tom and Jerry, nudged Abbi in the ribs.

"Abbi, you're supposed to be working."

"Quiet, meat-head, I am working." She hissed back, not taking her eyes off Gabby.

"No you're not." Junior hissed, nudging her again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm watching the new girl."

"Why?" Junior looked across the room to Gabby, who had already torn through the cellophane wrapping and was working her way dedicatedly through the text book from page one. "She looks boring. And she looks like a nerd."

"I watched a film the other night about clones." Muttered Abbi, resting her chin in her hands. "And I think that girl is my clone."

"Clones?" Junior echoed, looking across at Gabby again.

"Yeah. They made clones of people so that they could take their insides if something went wrong with the real person, except the clones didn't know they were clones but they found out and tried to take over the real people. I wasn't supposed to be watching it..." Abbi muttered, wincing as she remembered one of the nastier bits. She shouldn't have watched it at all, but she had wanted to prove she was old enough. Maybe she wasn't, since she'd had nightmares for three days.

Abbi shook her head, and returned to glaring at the new girl. The class members never really saw Abbi without her hood up, so they didn't know that she had similar floppy ears, and a similar white face surrounded by black fur. Abbi was the only person who suspected anything, and she was convinced. This girl even had an almost-exactly-the-same name as her.

Looking up at Miss Burnstein, Abbi saw that she had already returned to a thick novel with a picture of some woman looking out of a window on the front, being held by a man with long hair and a frilly shirt. She had already figured that Miss Burnstien wasn't supposed to be reading it, since she hid it every time another teacher entered the room, and she also knew the teacher couldn't take her nose out of it. Abbi stood carefully and began to edge towards the new girl's table. No one noticed, except Junior.

"What are you doing now?" He whispered loudly. Abbi flapped her hands and shushed him.

"I'm going to talk to her."

"Why?"

"Because if I sit next to you too long I might catch stupid disease." Abbi hissed, sticking her tongue out. "Now shut up, meat-head."

"Fuzz-face." He retorted, crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair, pouting. Abbi rolled her eyes, and walked across to Abbi's table. She didn't like Junior, but he kept hanging around her because... well, she wasn't sure why. But Abbi didn't have many friends, and she supposed Junior was better than nothing. All the children in the class were reaching that tricky age when they began to notice differences and similarities between each other, and judge their friends accordingly. There were loads of rabbit and duck toons, quite a few pig ones and human ones too, but not many dog toons and certainly none like Abbi.

She'd asked her dad why there was no one like her in the school and he'd just said she was "one of a kind", which Abbi had found irritatingly vague. Miss Burnstien, however, had said it was because she was inkblot style, a breed of toon which mostly died out after the 50s. Abbi wasn't sure she liked that answer any more than her Dad's. As Abbi approached the new girl, she could see definite similarities. There was no doubt about it, whatever Abbi was, the new girl was the same.

"What's your name?" Abbi shot suddenly as she sat down, making the girl jump.

"G... Gabby..." She stammered, looking at the new arrival. She couldn't see much of the face behind the hood, but guessed it was a girl because she was wearing a skirt. "What's yours?"

"Abbi." The girl stated, looking her up and down. A slender black tail flicked behind her as she watched Gabby carefully. Gabby smiled nervously, and flicked her own tail back. After a brief silence, Abbi spoke up.

"How old are you?"

"Six." Gabby gave the girl another nervous smile. "I was put forward a year."

"Hum." Abbi replied, scratching her nose. Gabby could just make out it was a round, shiny, red one, like hers but a little paler. "S'pose that's ok then." Abbi shrugged, shooting a quick glance around the room. "You can't be my clone, because you're smarter than me." Abbi nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer.

"What?" Gabby wrinkled her nose, unsure whether she should be offended by such a remark. "I'm not a clone... at least; I don't think I am..."

"No, you're not..." Abbi looked at her again, sounding a lot happier. "You look different close up. Fluffier. And I don't have teeth like that or pink bits in my fur."

Gabby raised her eyebrows, confused. What was this girl talking about? She was saved asking though, as Abbi shot a surreptitious glance round the classroom again, and lowered the red hood of her jacket. Gabby gasped as an almost mirror image of herself stared back at her. Yes the fur was different, Abbi's stuck out more and Gabby's had pink flecks; perhaps their ears and tails were slightly different, and Gabby was a few inches smaller, but to someone standing far enough away, they'd look pretty much identical.

"Creepy..." Gabby muttered, as they both extended gloved hands towards each other.

"Something's going on." Abbi whispered, conspiratorially, leaning in towards Gabby. Gabby leaned in too, intrigued by Abbi's talk of plots. "And now you're here, its absolute proof."

"What is?"

"You'll see at break." Abbi nodded, giving her a knowing look as she raised her hood again. "There's someone you've got to meet."

As the bell went, Abbi dragged her new friend over to a lonely corner of the playground. The playground was large, with a big rectangle of concrete leading out from the school doors and a grassy field with swings and a climbing frame, a couple of sports courts or pitches, plus a few other things for the kids to play on. It was all brightly painted, and looked like lots of fun... But, it was content to gleam tantalisingly in the distance as Gabby was hurried away from all this, to an area nearer by a wire mesh fence. There were loads of younger kids here, about four or five years old, all sat on the ground playing with toys and amusing themselves. Abbi held a finger to her lips, motioning for Gabby to be quiet.

"Where are we going?" She whispered, looking around at the kids. The kids spared her a cursory glance before returning to their toys.

"To the Kindergarten. Like I said, there's someone I want you to meet." Abbi grabbed her wrist again, and Gabby grudgingly followed. Who would she want to see in the Kindergarten? The teacher? The kids sure didn't look that interesting...

Abbi motioned to a window, resting her hands on the ledge and peeking through the glass. Gabby poked her nose above the ledge, having to stand on tiptoe. There, inside the classroom, was a toon she presumed to be the kindergarten teacher. The woman looked half-horse, half-human, with dark skin, a big smile and long, black hair... or perhaps it was mane. Either way, Abbi wasn't looking at the horsey-woman. She was looking at the little boy, sat in front of her, on a small green stool.

Gabby gasped.

This day just kept getting weirder.

The little boy turned to look at them, grinned when he saw Abbi, pointed out of the window and the teacher nodded. The boy ran out of the classroom. Abbi gestured away from the window, and turned around as the little kid pushed the kindergarten doors open. Gabby just looked from one to the other. The boy was small, about a foot smaller than her, and wore mucky brown pants with a long, brown overcoat. From underneath the bottoms of his trousers poked two large, white feet, and behind him, a long black tail flicked back and forth. The sleeves of his coat stretched way past his fingertips, but Gabby was sure he had delicate gloved hands, just like her and Abbi. What clinched this certainty was his smooth, chalk-white face, his red tomato nose, and the black fur sticking out around his cheeks. He wore an old straw boater hat, with a red stripe around it and a big red stain on one side. Out of the top of his hat poked two puppy dog ears.

"Gabby Warner." Abbi grinned, puffing her chest out proudly. "This is Todd Strizlecki, a four year old progdidy."

"Prodigy." Gabby corrected, before biting her tongue. Correcting others was a bad habit she had, and was the way she'd lost friends at her old school. She waited for the snobbery, or names, but Abbi merely shrugged.

"Whatever. Todd is in first grade English, math and science, but in our class for all our Cartoon Skills lessons."

Todd nodded at this, smiling and extending his hand to Gabby. Gabby shook it carefully, although found his smile somewhat infectious.

"Todd, Gabby's just moved here, she's really clever, she's a year younger than me but she knows way more stuff." Abbi grinned, pointing at Gabby's tail. "And look! She's another one, Todd, just like us!"

Todd grinned again, before putting a finger on his chin and pouting, as if he was thinking very hard.

"Can't he speak?" Gabby looked at Abbi, confused. The boy hadn't made a sound since he'd come towards them, and now she thought of it, when they were watching through the window, he hadn't been speaking either.

"Oh, he can." Abbi shrugged, before walking back towards the main playground. Todd grabbed Gabby's hand, and motioned for them to follow. "He just... doesn't. Never has anything to say, I guess." Todd drew a hand across his lips, as if doing up a zip. "But he can make a deadly cream pie." Abbi nodded gravely, before crossing her legs and dropping down to sit on the floor. Todd and Gabby sat either side of her, leaning in close.

"This is amazing!" Gabby giggled, watching as their black tails flicked in unison. "I mean... I've been to lots of schools, but I've never seen anyone who looks like me except my Dad..."

"You know what I think?" Abbi cast a sly look, first to Gabby and then Todd. She leant in closer, loving to build up tension.

She wasn't much for academics, but Abbi certainly knew how to give a performance, and always loved every minute of it. It wasn't that she was attention-seeking, exactly; just that she always had fun knowing she could make people feel differently by saying something or acting a certain way.

"I think our parents are all in it together. I think that we were all royalty in a far off land where everyone looked like this, but when we were very young the evil prince took over and made the king and queen... that's our real mum and dad... send us far, far away where we wouldn't be a threat to him... except our real mum and dad were worried so they sent their most loyal guards to pose as our parents so we wouldn't be harmed, or worry about them. But now the guards won't take us back, because they know if they go back then we could get hurt and they could get executed for treason." She gave another grave nod, and Todd opened his mouth wide and looked from one girl to the other. Gabby gasped, too. She wasn't sure if she believed it, but it was a very good story, and Abbi certainly seemed to know what she was talking about.

"What if we ask our parent- I mean, the guards... tonight when we get home?"

"No! They won't tell us, silly." Abbi shook her head. "Because they'd be worried we might want to go back, and they were probably signed to secrecy when our real parents sent them to take care of us. On pain of death."

"Oh..."

Gabby didn't really know what to say.

Todd leapt to his feet, took off his straw hat and bowed royally, before walking around with his chin in the air and rolling his hand in a royal wave. Abbi laughed, and linked arms with him, joining in. Gabby still wasn't really sure if she believed the story, but it would make a fun game for now, she decided. Abbi started hollering that she was going to be the queen, and Todd could pretend to be the evil prince, and that Gabby had better hurry up and choose who she wanted to be, or the revolution would be over and she would have missed out.

While Todd mutely declared civil war on Queen Abbi and Princess Gabby, they were unaware that they were being watched. Leaning against the doorway to the teacher's lounge, Bugs wrinkled his nose as he brought the mug of stewed coffee to his lips. Yeurch. Was it too much to ask for some fresh coffee, instead of this morning's left-over dregs? His gaze slipped back over to the three ink-blots. The three of them were so familiar. It was possibly the most annoying feeling ever, to recognise someone but not know where from. _Dang, _he thought, _I guess I'm gettin' old..._

As he drained the sticky black residue of his coffee cup, he pulled a face at the bitter tang, and dumped the mug in the sink. Ah well, if it was important, he guessed the answer would come to him, in the end.

After more lessons, most of which were half writing in notebooks and half giggling with Abbi, Gabby was almost sad when the bell rang. As everyone started piling books into backpacks, Abbi looked at Gabby, grinning from underneath her big red hood.

"D'you walk home?"

"No, I have to wait here for my dad to pick me up."

"Aww, shame." Abbi sighed, throwing her ink-stained blue backpack over one shoulder. "I'd walk you home. Todd's probably already been picked up by his childminder, too."

"Oh..." She wanted to ask why he had a childminder, but she knew that would be rude, since she didn't really know him yet. So, instead, she linked arms with Abbi and they walked out of the classroom and towards the main doors.

"How come you walk home?" Gabby was a little amazed. Her Dad had always told her she wasn't allowed to walk about on her own until she was older.

"I only live a little ways from school." Abbi shrugged. "Just 'round the corner and up a little path. We know everyone between here and there, so mum and dad said it was safe... Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then, Gab." Abbi grinned, as she pushed open the front doors, and walked out onto the path.

Abbi and her new friend waved to each other until Abbi had backed out of sight of the school. Gabby dropped down onto the stairs, and sat with her chin on her hands.

_What a day_.

Two new friends and she was already nearly caught up with the class. Plus, tomorrow they were going to have Toon Skills. Toon Skills was the lesson where they taught you how to throw pies and spin around, dig holes, paint tunnels, make things appear or disappear... it was always fun, but surprisingly disciplined, and usually nowhere near as chaotic as it sounded. But with Abbi and Todd in her class, Gabby wasn't so sure they wouldn't mess around just a little...

Her train of thought stopped as she saw her Dad's car pull up outside the school gates. He stepped out and waved at her, smiling as she ran over to him and opened the door, hopping in the passenger seat. She clambered up onto her booster seat, and smiled happily at him, wiggling her toes absent-mindedly. Yakko smiled back, climbing back into the car himself, and helped her with her seatbelt. He put his own seatbelt on, and started the car for the drive home.

"So... You look like you had a good first day." Yakko was pleased for his daughter. They'd moved twice before, and she often found it hard to make new friends. She was a lot smarter than most kids her age and not exactly an extrovert, so she often became a bit of an outcast. But this time, it seemed that she'd hit it off right away, chattering away about her new friends.

"... And Abbi introduced me to Todd. He's really funny but he never says anything; I don't know why, but Abbi said he can never think of anything worth saying which I suppose is fair enough. Abbi helped me in all the classes, I'm nearly caught up; Abbi says I'm more clever than her but I don't think so, I think she just doesn't pay attention. Oh, Daddy it's so much fun, and Abbi looks..."

_Whoops_.

Gabby bit her lip, glancing up at her dad a little furtively. Thankfully, he was busy driving, so he didn't notice straight away. _Wouldn't want to let slip she knew the secret..._ She didn't fully believe the story, but... the way Abbi had spun such a majestic tale, Gabby was inclined to keep playing the game, just on the off chance, or wildest hope that it might be true.

Yakko raised an eyebrow at his daughter, noticing her sudden silence. She tended to do this quite a bit; She veered between prolonged silence and garbled word-vomit, which usually resulted in her getting herself either muddled up or in trouble. He had often told her it was the family curse; He and Babs had always been chatty. Gabby didn't really care where she got it from, since she didn't want it anyway. She smiled up at him, blushing slightly.

"Abbi's what?"

"Uhm... I can't remember..." She smiled, hoping he'd buy it. _I know he's probably not an Imperial Guard, but why chance it? _"She's just... really funny, that's all."

"Oh." Yakko smiled, a little confused. Girls. No matter how old they were, they were perplexing specimens. He decided it was probably best not to ask, and kept driving.

Across town, Todd was pushing open the heavy white doors of the fairly large, Toon Town sub-urb villa he called home. He shot a wave to the childminder, Ms Leon. She was a chubby woman, with frizzy blonde hair, who usually walked him home from school. Ms Leon waved back, before pushing the green buggy and waddling down the street. The buggy held her baby, Erwin, who was 6 months old and very... vocal. And enjoyed grabbing anything within reach of his chubby little fists. Todd rubbed his nose, remembering not to cross the kid when he got older.

_Even at six months, Erwin has a mean right hook. And,_ Todd noted, pushing the door shut, _with a name like "Erwin", he'd probably need one_.

He walked through the large hall, through the open-plan first floor, watching his reflection in the shiny parquet floor. He took off his backpack, and threw it on the green leather couch. The overall effect of the decor (lots of greens, browns, oranges and yellows) was "airy, yet earthy", as his parent's friends kept saying. Todd had no idea what this meant, and as long as the TV worked, he didn't care too much. He flicked on the set, before joining his backpack on the couch. As he flipped through the channels, trying to get to the cartoons, he heard the door slam, and froze.

_So, who's this?_

"Snot! Serrrr-nottieee!" A shrill voice sing-songed through the house, coupled by thick chuckling.

_Oh, wonderful. Pre-dinner theatre._

His half-brother Max didn't so much enter the room as cannonball into it, flanked by his goons, each as thick in the head as Max's stomach was across.

"Snot!" Max guffawed, as though he had just made an incredibly intelligent jibe. Max was ten years old, and, in Todd's opinion, a jerk. Todd had been dealing with his horrible half-brother long enough, though, to know how to handle him. Just as Erwin would deal with his future bullies with a right-hook, Todd dealt with his by the only way a diminutive four year old could. He made them laugh.

Todd stood on the couch, and made a show of wiping his nose on his sleeve, before saluting with the same hand, consequently pulling a disgusted face and wiping the offending fictional gunk off his head. He picked up his backpack, and stumbled off the couch, into a forward somersault. The goons sniggered, and Max smiled grudgingly as he realised Todd had kept his hat on throughout the manoeuvre.

"Dork." Max glared at Todd, before throwing himself down on the couch and picking up the remote. Todd stopped by the doorway to examine his half-brother. He really was quite disgusting.

He was fatter than was healthy, and his black-tipped fox ears poked out of the top of a mess of greasy ginger curls. He was near constantly cramming his mouth with some kind of junk food, which made his fur dull and greasy. The only past-times he had were playing computer games, watching TV and trying to make Todd's life miserable.

_Trying, and failing, _Todd chuckled as he climbed the stairs, pulling himself up by the banisters. Being as intelligent as he was meant he faced the curse of being picked on by dumber kids, but the blessing of knowing how to bamboozle them.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he looked along the light, airy corridor, hearing a distant, lilting tune. Smiling, Todd walked past his room, past Max's room, past the spare room and the study... to his mum and dad's room. His mum and dad's room was white, with touches of light yellow here and there, and sat on the yellow bedspread was his mother. She was a picture of tranquillity, looking through sheets of paper and humming absent-mindedly to herself. Todd grinned, and gave a running jump onto the bed. His mother gasped, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Todd! Gosh, is that the time already? Oh no." She rolled her eyes, and collapsed backwards onto the bed. Todd lay down next to her, his hat falling off on the pillow. "I wanted to pick you up from school today! I got home early and everything! I just got distracted... I'm sorry, kid." She sighed, and poked his nose with one delicately gloved finger. "Forgive me?"

In response, Todd broke into a grin and wrapped his arms round her, planting a clumsy kiss on her cheek. She laughed, and hugged him back, holding him as she sat up, so he ended up sitting on her lap.

"So, did my little genius have fun at school?"

Todd nodded, still hugging his mum. He buried his nose in the folds of the black t-shirt she wore, not looking at her.

_Oh yes, endless fun. Except, of course, the bit where your "little genius" got pushed over in the lunch queue, and had to listen to the one billionth remark about a four year old in second grade_.

"Todd? Sweetie?" Her slender arms wrapped around him, her hands lifting him up so he had to look at her. Todd didn't even try to make eye contact. It was another day when he was picked on by the older kids for being smart. Sure, he had Abbi, who'd defend him to the hilt, and Gabby, who was just as sweet and kind a friend as he could ask for, but they couldn't be with him all the time...

He sniffed, wrinkling his nose as the familiar prickly heat grew around his eyes. He let a few tears run down his nose as his mum held him tight again.

"Oh, Todd, honey... I know what it's like being the youngest. It stinks, doesn't it? Having no one your age around and you don't understand why all the bigger kids treat you like you're different."

Todd nodded. He sniffed again, fiddling with his fingers.

"Don't worry, Todd. I promise, it'll be alright. You have friends, don't you?"

Todd nodded, before holding up two fingers, sheepishly.

"Two?" His mother smiled. "The first eighteen years of my life, I only ever wanted to count on two people."

Todd smiled. Well, that didn't sound so bad. And he wouldn't mind being friends with Abbi and Gabby for eighteen years. That was a long time. He smiled at his mum, hugging her again, and hopping off the bed, just as a familiar, loping fox-toon walked into the room. He had dark fur, a sort of umber colour, and grinned as he saw Todd.

"Todd, my boy!" He smiled, kneeling down so he was on Todd's level. "Why don't you go take off this mucky old coat, hmm? It could do with a wash."

Todd shook his head, hugging himself, and pouting. He would not give up his coat without a fight. He took his hat from the pillow, plonked it back over his puppy-dog ears, and walked defiantly out of the room, sticking his tongue out at his father.

"Charming..." The fox muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, leave him, Graham. He likes his coat, let him wear it." Dot sighed, standing up and walking to her full-length mirror. She took in her appearance, from the black t-shirt and dusty blue Capri pants to her white face and black puppy ears. She smiled, running her fingers through her fur. It didn't stick out at the sides any more, but sort of curled back, giving her a much more mature look. She would be twenty seven in a few months time.

_Twenty seven, and already a university degree, the beginnings of a fairly successful theatre career, a husband, a step-son and a child of my own._ She smiled, catching Graham's eye from the reflection of the mirror. "If anything, it's your fault for letting him watch all those Marx Brothers films."

"Oh, is that a fact?" Graham smiled, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her. "So... have you read the script?"

"Not all the way through, no."

"Well, what do you think of it so far?"

"It's good." She rested her head on his arm, looking at him in the mirror. He was six years older than her, and had spent most of his life writing. She'd often thought he and Yakko would have gotten on very well... not that she'd ever be able to introduce them.

"Just good?"

"Well, so far. I've not gotten to the exciting bit yet."

"Ah." He smiled, hugging her, and kissing her cheek. "Well, I suppose I'll leave you to it." He let go of her, walking towards the door.

"Wait, what?" Dot pouted, hands on hips. "You're going out?" Graham looked at her, and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, dear, you can still do the cute thing, no need to pout at me."

"Graham..."

"Look, I told you this last night. I've got to meet with agents and publishers and who knows how many other people. Turning a stage play into a film involves lots of copyright negotiations. The film industry is a tricky business-"

"I know that!" Dot snapped, walking past him. "Remember who you're talking to; thirteen years living in Warner Brothers. I do know a thing or two about the film industry."

"So you'll know how important these meetings are. I'm sorry, Dot, I can't help it."

Dot turned to face him, about to fight back, but she stopped herself, sighed, and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, too. Go. Do your meetings or whatever."

"I really am sorry." He repeated, as he kissed her again and walked downstairs.

Dot just sighed, rubbing her eyes, before walking downstairs, too. Seeing Max and his friends watching TV, Dot checked her watch.

"Max, it's dinnertime, your friends are going to have to leave soon."

"Not yet." Max spoke defiantly, without even turning away from the TV set. "They don't want to go yet."

"Well then I'll have to call their parents."

"Big deal. Remember, if a woman picks up the phone, she'll be called "mum"."

Dot glared at him, but really didn't have the energy to respond. Instead, she walked through to the kitchen, sat down at the table, and rested her head in her hands.

_Nearly twenty seven. And a husband hardly ever at home, a step-son who hates me because he thinks I'm replacing his mother, and only sixteen years his senior... And a son who can't adjust to his... special skill_.

She hadn't seen her brothers for years. She loved Graham and Todd, and even Max. She loved working in the theatre, even if it was mostly small-time stuff for now. But she missed her brothers. She'd tried to contact them, but something had always gotten in the way. By the time she finally swallowed her pride and called them, she was told that they had moved out of the Water Tower some months previously. There was no "Warner", "W." or "Y." listed in the telephone book, or any other directory.

She sometimes felt so lost without them. Every now and then she'd look down at Todd, when he'd gotten rid of his hat and grubby overcoat. He'd wear brown slacks and a black jumper, and she'd be close to tears. She couldn't let on, though. How do you explain to a child that you're upset because they look just like the uncle they've never met, due to a fatal bout of sibling rivalry? She had to remind herself that this was Todd. He was different to her brothers. He never spoke a word, unless it was important. He had the privileges of a loving home, and no blood-siblings. But there were more similarities than there seemed. The same sense of humour, the same tenancy to horde random items, the same skills and quick intelligence...

_"Blood will out", as the saying goes, and Warner genes are strong. Even if his name is Strizlecki on paper, I can't deny he's a Warner at heart._ Dot sighed, and sat back in the kitchen chair, rubbing her eyes again. She felt a gentle tapping on her elbow, and looked down to see Todd pulling a bizarre face (he had yet to perfect the Harpo Marx "Gookie"). Dot laughed, and lifted him up onto her hip.

"What do you fancy for dinner, Todd? I don't know about you, but I can't be bothered to cook tonight." Dot walked over to the kitchen counter, and picked up the phone. Todd thought for a moment, before blowing a kiss on his fingertips and twiddling a finger round an imaginary moustache.

"Pizza?"

He nodded.

"Good idea." Dot smiled, keying in the number for the nearest take-away.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabby gasped and shrunk back a little as the green and yellow hurricane burst into the room, spinning around the entire gym before screeching to a halt in front of the doors.

"Well hello, class. Are we all ready for our very serious Toon Skills lesson?" The green-faced teacher smiled broadly (a little too broadly for Gabby's liking), puffing his chest out proudly as the rambunctious group chorused a

"Yes, Mr M!"

Their voices reverberated around the spacious gym, making Gabby jump. Toon Skills was taught in the gym simply because it was the biggest empty space available, and there were plenty of gymnastics mats there to prevent possible injury. Gabby looked around in awe as the rest of the kids whooped and applauded the whirling, green-faced insanity that had just swept into the class.

"That's the teacher?" She whispered to Abbi, looking over his sharp yellow suit, green head, and unnervingly large white teeth. Last night, she'd heard her Dad use the word "Eccentric", and asked him what it meant, and while he had tried his best, his explanation had confused her. Now, however, she felt she was looking at a living embodiment of the definition.

"Yup." Abbi grinned, flopping heavily on Gabby's shoulders, "That's Mr. M. Don't worry, he's harmless. He's a genius at Toon Skills."

"Really?" Gabby cut him another suspicious glance, watching as he started joking with the other kids, filling the room with infectious energy. "He just looks crazy to me."

Todd, ears perking at the conversation, shook his head and traced a square shape in mid-air with his finger, before grinning and laughing silently.

"Yeah, he was on TV for a while, ages ago." Abbi translated. Gabby was amazed how easily Abbi translated Todd's makeshift sign-language, but then she supposed it made sense. After all, Abbi had only known Gabby for a week or two, and was already able to predict Gabby's thoughts. She may not claim to be smart, but she was very good at understanding emotions and personalities.

"Mr M. was drawn 'specially for the series. No idea what it was about, though." Abbi shrugged, before all three of them jumped as Mr "M" cleared his throat, commanding attention.

"Today, kids, we're going to be focusing on that most elegant and impressive of Toon Skills... the Spin! Not the easiest to master, but if done right, it really can be a thing of beauty." So saying, he performed a spin change, and was suddenly wearing a purple bard's costume, strumming at a lute.

"If you don't mind, I have prepared an ode..."

Abbi and Todd joined in with the giggles of the class, most of whom were laughing so loud Gabby couldn't even hear his song. Gabby wrinkled her nose. He was quite clearly nuts, but he looked friendly enough.

"... and now, my children, it's your chance, get into groups of two or three; Grab a mat, and call an ambulance. I foresee catastrophe!"

The class erupted into applause, before running off into groups.

Gabby bit her lip as she and her new friends dragged one of the gymnastics mats over to a space near the back of the gym. She still wasn't sure about this Mr. M, but if he'd been drawn, rather than born, it would explain a lot. Everyone knew that cartoons were either drawn by animators and then brought to life, or born to already living cartoons. The ones who were drawn never got older, and were usually really weird. Her Dad had said something about it, once, but hadn't gone into much detail. Then, in one of her more stubborn moments, she'd then gone to the library and found out anyway. When a toon was drawn and brought to life... some freak happening or complicated scientific stuff, she hadn't understood that bit... they were usually a lot crazier and had much higher abilities and thresholds. Something to do with DNA and genetics, she hadn't understood that bit too well either. But the basic gist was a "first generation" cartoon would be able to withstand more pain, do more crazy stunts, and were usually more unstable; examples being this "Mr M", many of the Tex Avery toons and, of course, the Looney Toons.

However, as the generations continued, Toons slowly became more and more sensitised to the world around them; and although they could still do all the elementary toon things (like, say, surviving a fall off a tall building or making things appear from nowhere), they behaved more normally. The "Toon-ness" became watered down, as it were. One of the few things her dad had told her on the subject was that he was a second generation, which made her a third. She had asked him if that meant that they would both grow older than her grandparents and he said yes, but that he had outgrown his parents long ago. She had said that she didn't know what that meant, and he had told her to be glad he'd never met them. Sometimes, Gabby wondered if her Dad was trying to confuse her on purpose.

Abbi cut in on her thoughts, flicking her on the arm.

"Gab! You ever done Spins before?"

Gabby shook her head. Spins were tricky, but seemed like lots of fun. Characters like Taz had made them really famous, especially for long periods of time. Mr M, now back in the yellow suit, was raving on about how he was "somewhat of a spin expert", and that once they'd mastered spins they could go on to spin changes. The boys groaned. Mr M wagged his finger, rolling his eyes.

"Now now, boys. Spin changes are very useful. If not for comic effect, then certain manoeuvres can prove infinitely useful on dates." Seeing the befuddled, eight year old faces gazing back at him, Mr M's expression dropped. "Trust me; it'll be useful when you're older. Besides, even the great Mr Bunny has relied on Spins a few times."

This was true. And it was enough to sell most of the boys on the idea. Todd even slapped his hand down on his hat and attempted a clumsy pirouette, overbalancing and falling over. The class laughed, and since he leapt up grinning, Gabby had the feeling it was staged. For a four year old, he was a convincing actor.

It took the three of them over fifteen minutes just to work out how to do it without bumping into each other, but soon enough, Abbi, Gabby and Todd had started spinning pretty fast, an managed to keep it up for quite a while, before the inevitable-

"WARGH!" Abbi wailed, as she tripped over her own tail and fell face down onto the mat. Gabby rushed over and crouched down by her friend's head.

"You ok?"

Abbi prized her face off the blue foam, and jutted her bottom lip out, puffing air up so her ears moved out of her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's To- Ow!" She let out another indignant yelp as Todd, staggering dizzily across the mat after a particularly enthusiastic spin, tripped over her feet. Gabby held back a giggle, blushing.

Abbi scowled at her, but she couldn't help giggling herself. Gabby held out her hands to her friends, in an effort to help them up, but the two had other ideas, and pulled on her arms so that she overbalanced and fell on top of them.

The three lay there giggling hysterically for a while, unnoticed by most of the chaotic rabble of the class. Only one, solitary figure sat across the hall, arms crossed and knees drawn up as he glared at the three of them. Junior made no effort to join in the lesson, and, in return, little effort was made to involve him. He'd tried once or twice, at the beginning of the lesson, but after he'd fallen down every time, and heard some barely concealed snickers from nearby groups, he'd given up in a huff. His "partner" (or rather, the kid Mr M had instructed to work with him on account of everyone else being in groups) had run off to go work with his friends, so now he was left here on his own. He growled a little, and glared at Abbi, Gabby and Todd.

Abbi was his friend first; who did this new kid think she was, just barging in here and stealing her away?

That wasn't fair.

He didn't like her, and he didn't like the fact that she was such a goody-goody. Junior had listened with contempt as Gabby had won over their teachers with her quiet, simpering voice and her shy blushes. He'd wriggled with disgust as she'd been introduced to him by Abbi, and smiled sweetly. He'd practically gagged in bilious fury as she had simpered that she hoped she'd get to be friends with him.

He hated her.

They'd been talking about family in one of their lessons, and Gabby had stolen all the attention away by whimpering that her parents were divorced. Everyone had cooed and consoled her, asking her how she felt about it, and then she had the sheer cheek to go on about how wonderful her parents are, and how much they both wanted to spend time on her because she was their only kid. Junior glowered at her, frolicking across the room. He wasn't really sure what the word "hate" meant. But he was pretty certain he hated her.

At recess, Abbi and Gabby sat on the edge of the field, right next to the concrete square people played ball games on. They were waiting for Todd to finish talking with the school nurse.

"Why does he have to talk to her every day?" Gabby asked, holding one hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she strained her neck up, watching Abbi pretend to tightrope walk on the line between concrete and grass. She had her arms stretched out to either side, and was wearing the same dusty pink skirt and blue hoody she had on yesterday. She kept stopping to push the sleeves of the jumper back up her arms, her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated hard, balancing on her tip-toes.

"Because the school have to check how he's fitting in to his lessons, since he's in older classes." Abbi shrugged, tearing her eyes away from the imaginary tightrope for a moment. "Plus they get worried about how he never speaks, so they have to check he's not got anything wrong with his brain or something."

"Oh." Gabby nodded, scratching her tomato nose thoughtfully. "Why are adults always butting in?"

"It's all a big plot. Like putting on really cool adverts for stuff that only comes on TV after bed time. It's to make us be brainless drones so we'll become boring grown-ups much quicker."

Gabby laughed to herself, laying back on the grass. Todd pulled horrible faces whenever he was dragged off five minutes before recess to go talk to the nurse, so Gabby had come to the conclusion he didn't like the sessions. The nurse was the horsey woman she'd seen him talking to yesterday, and she seemed friendly enough. Boring, though. Her voice went up and down on every other word, so it sounded like she was jogging all the time... "CAN I PLEASE speak TO Todd, MR Bunny?" Gabby didn't like it, she sounded too jumpy, like if you said "boo" she'd jump a foot in the air and scream. Gabby stopped thinking about it when Abbi nudged her with her foot.

"You alright?"

"Yup." Gabby nodded, as Abbi rolled up her sleeves again. "How come you wear that jumper when it's so hot?"

"Always wear it." Abbi sniffed, grinning at her friend, somewhat proud. "It was my dad's but now it's mine. And I wear it all the time 'cos it's cool." She smiled again, sticking her tongue out and flipping the red hood up.

"Oh..." Gabby said again. "Okay then. Oh! There's Todd!"

She stood up and waved as she saw Todd slipping through the double doors at the side of the school. He waved back, and started running towards them. Gabby turned back to say something to Abbi, but just as she opened her mouth she got thrown forward as something collided hard with the back of her head. She put her hands out to stop herself from landing flat on the grass, but still got mucky grass stains on her gloves.

She sat up, rubbing the back of her head, looking around. There was a red rubber dodge ball rolling quietly across the concrete away from her, and she had a feeling that was what had caused the stinging of the impact. But who'd thrown it.

"You ok?" Abbi asked, looking around too, before wriggling round behind her and checking the back of her head. "No bruise, don't think... you're not bleeding, anyway-"

"Eew, Abbi!" Gabby whimpered, hating thinking about blood. She saw Junior pick up the dodge ball and walk toward them, cutting in front of Todd.

"Aww, did cry-baby get hurt?" He sneered, as he threw the ball at her again. This time, she caught it, and held it between her knees.

"What's up, Junior?" Gabby didn't like the way he was glaring at her, and yelped as he kicked at her ankles. Abbi leapt up to her feet, holding Gabby's hand.

"What's your problem, meathead?" She gave a slight tug on Gabby's hand, helping her up.

"None of your business, fuzz-face." Junior growled. A few of the kids around them were taking interest in what was going on. Not that Gabby noticed; she was transfixed by the fire burning in Junior's eyes.

He was glaring at her, not a trace of friendliness or even indifference. Kids had ignored her before, frozen her out or made it clear that she wasn't welcome, but no one had ever singled her out on purpose. It was scary, the thought that Junior had sought her out to cause her pain. She gripped Abbi's hand tight, and was a little happy to feel Abbi squeeze back.

Junior crossed his arms, stepping closer so that he could look down on her. He was tall, for his age, and stocky. Gabby was fairly petite anyway, but she was dwarfed in comparison. Junior bared his teeth, showing off gleaming fangs.

"But you would stick up for her, wouldn't you? Three little freaks; you've got to stick together." When he said the word "freaks", he spat it, making it sound like a really dirty word. The groups of kids watching were getting bigger, all captivated by the tension.

"Who are you calling a freak, blubber boy?" Abbi scowled back, squeezing Gabby's hand again. "Thought you said we were best friends?"

"That was before you started hanging out with the divorce girl." Junior said, pushing Gabby in the chest. "Why waste your time? No one wants her, not even her parents."

The playground was deathly silent now. Somehow, everyone knew that was a line that shouldn't be crossed. Gabby took a sharp breath, feeling like she'd not so much heard the words as been punched in the stomach with them. Her eyes started feeling uncomfortably warm and prickly, and her lips felt really dry.

"Not true!" She said, but it came out as a choked yelp, which Junior just laughed at.

"It is. It always is. I bet they were fine before they found out you were such a freak."

Abbi let go of Gabby's hand, and shoved Junior in the chest, hard.

"Don't say that!" She growled, standing so close they were almost nose to nose. She had to stand up on tip-toe a little bit, but she was just as scary. "You don't say that about my friends or anyone, not ever!"

"Why not? It's true." Junior shoved Abbi back, so that she stumbled back a step. He stopped, and looked round as he felt tiny thuds on his back. Todd was hammering on his back with tiny gloved fists, making little effect. Junior just laughed, grabbed Todd's wrist, and swung him round so he was standing with the other two. "Three freaks together. You've got to keep it that way, since no one else'd go near you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Abbi growled, stepping forward again. Gabby sniffed and watched. She wished she could be brave like her, but she had a feeling if she said anything it would come out a sob. Todd looked up at her, as nervous and unsure as she was. Trying to look brave, Todd clutched Gabby's hand, reassuring her.

"Look around you!" Junior laughed, a cruel sneer on his face. "Look at those tails, and those stupid little ears and big furry faces. Who wants cheek to cheek carpeting?" He jeered, and a few kids laughed.

Gabby swallowed, feeling Todd grip her hand. He didn't know what to do either. She was pretty sure she even saw Abbi blush a little. She opened her mouth to retaliate, but Junior wasn't done yet.

"And as for mime and teeth-face over there..."

Gabby carefully raised her hand to her mouth. She knew she had a little bit of an over-bite, but it wasn't that bad, was it?

"Babies! You were almost cool, Abbi, and now you've found out there's more weird freaks and you're gonna be just like them! Babies and brains!" He jeered again, laughing. The kids who laughed before were louder this time, a few even walking over to stand behind Junior. Gabby looked around, seeing the crowd of eyes on her.

"It's not true. We're just normal kids..."

"Baby." Junior grinned, triumphant as Gabby started to find it hard to fight off the tears. "Little divorce baby who nobody loves."

Todd, looking from Abbi to Gabby, suddenly seemed to make up his mind. He ran over to Junior and kicked him in the back of his knees. Junior grunted in pain, grabbed Todd by the shoulders and swung him round so he skidded on the concrete behind him. Abbi, who had been quietly seething till then, stormed forward and pushed Junior again, this time, really hard. Junior stumbled back, and tripped over the crouching Todd, falling back and knocking his head on the concrete. Abbi wasted no time jumping on his chest and hitting him. The kids gathered round chanting for a fight, While Gabby sniffed back tears once more, picking Todd up and checking he was ok. They turned, trying to pull Abbi back, but they were too late.

"ABIGAIL WARNER!" The voice came from across the playground, stopping everyone in their tracks. The school's deputy head, was a fat, crotchety, grey-haired old woman with pointy yellow teeth and a horrible sharp nose. She was a complete battle-axe and, quaking, Abbi realised she was storming toward her. She was known as Ms Finster, everyone hated and feared her, and she wasn't particularly fond of Abbi. Abbi tried to run off, but wasn't quick enough. Finster grabbed her by the shoulder, and picked Junior up by his.

"Fighting is against school rules. The pair of you are in big trouble!"

"But he-" Abbi began, to be cut off by Finster's rattling voice.

"No buts, missy. You two are going to the principal's office."

Gabby and Todd watched helplessly as Abbi was half walked, half dragged to the principal's office, Junior still shouting and protesting. Gabby sat down on the grass, staring at the stains on her gloves, Junior's taunts echoing round in her mind...

Neither Gabby nor Todd saw Abbi again until lunchtime, and even then she was sat across the cafeteria, being watched by Finster. Gabby had sat next to Todd, and they'd planned to sneak into her detention to see her. She looked horribly sad, sat there fiddling with her fork, occasionally taking a spiteful bite of her food. Junior was sat next to her, looking just as dejected, but not at all sorry. Eventually he finished, and was taken off to the gym, presumably for his detention. Gabby and Todd watched helplessly as Abbi was taken to the science room for her own punishment. Todd looked at Gabby, grinning. He threw back what was left of his milk, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve and pulled a weird, cross-eyed face at her, before motioning to go. They needed to see Abbi.

Walking down the empty corridors, Gabby and Todd were cautious on their trip to the science classroom, making sure Finster was nowhere about. Carefully, as they reached the classroom, Gabby stood on tiptoe and peeked over the bottom of the window. There, sat at one of the front desks, resting her head on crossed arms on the table, and glaring at her pencil, was a very dejected looking Abbi.

Gabby glanced around. There was no one else in the room. Gabby turned back to Todd, giving him the thumbs up, and lifting a finger to her lips.

Todd raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Gabby sighed.

"Alright, take your point." She muttered, opening the door, checking to make sure no one was would see them. "Just emphasizing the importance of quiet."

This was bad. She could get in serious trouble for this... but she had to see her friend, if nothing else than to thank her for sticking up for her.

Abbi looked up as they entered, but didn't move.

"Hi." She sniffed, resting her chin on her hands. Gabby and Todd crept over to her, still wary of being spotted. Todd ran over, and poked her arm. Abbi shrugged him off.

"What happened?" Gabby asked, sitting next to her.

"They sent Junior off to the nurse, 'cos he had a bump on his head." Abbi grumbled, still not looking up. "Then they made me talk to Mr Bunny 'cos they thought I was being bad. I tried to tell him about what Junior said but I got all nervous and it came out jumbled, so I don't think he understood. Then Finster phoned my parents, but they weren't in. So she said she's going to call them again later... and I have to stay in here all lunch and do science homework."

"Oh... well, that's not so bad..." Gabby sniffed a little, looking over at the notebook in front of Abbi. "There was a boy at my last school who beat up another kid and had to have classes by himself for a week."

"Yeah, but I can't do science." She sniffed in reply, slamming her pencil down on the desk in frustration. "If I do it at home then mum can help, but I can't..." She whimpered, her tail twitching as she got worked up. Gabby patted her friend's shoulder, looking at the sheet in front of her. It was a basic looking printout of a skeleton, with arrows pointing to different bits with blank spaces they were supposed to fill in. Gabby looked at Abbi, still sniffing, her ears wilting like lilies.

She knew how it felt, to get frustrated through not knowing something. Sometimes adults forgot that they didn't know stuff yet.

She hated to see Abbi upset. But then she had an idea...

"I know a song about it... if it'll help..." A bright pink blush spread across her cheeks as soon as she had said it, and she hoped fervently that Abbi wouldn't want her to sing it. She didn't like singing in front of people. She didn't like speaking in front of people, to start with.

"Really?" Abbi sniffed, blinking at her. "How's it go?"

Gabby twitched her tail and wrinkled her nose, looking around for a distraction.

"Oh come on, Gabby... sing it, please, otherwise I'll never get done." Abbi pleaded, whimpering at her with large, soft eyes. Gabby sighed, relenting. She had to remember to use that one on dad...

"Well... it starts off..." She shifted, wishing she at least had some music to sing to. She closed her eyes. She could sing in front of Dad, so she could sing in front of her friends.

_Come on, Gabby. She stood up for you, now you have to help her_

"Everybody knows about the anklebone connected to the other bones you have inside your leg..." Gabby spoke more than she sung, her words barely above a whisper. Abbi and Todd watched her quietly, so she closed her eyes tighter and carried on a little louder.

"And everybody knows it's true, without the bones inside of you, your body would become a scrambled egg!" Abbi and Todd laughed at this (or rather, Abbi laughed, and Todd clapped, so she assumed it was good) so Gabby got a little louder, and started singing a little more.

"So the toe bone's connected to the foot bone,

"And the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone,

"And the slide is connected to the trombone-" Here Todd made an impressive trombone impression, and everyone giggled for a bit, before Gabby carried on.

She sang the rest of the song, and everyone cheered up considerably, Abbi filling in the sheet as she went. Before long they were finished, and Gabby and Todd had to leave before Finster came back. They slipped out of the science room door, and quietly back to their homeroom, where Gabby would need to be for registration. Todd waved goodbye as he walked off to the kindergarten, and just as Gabby turned to continue walking down the corridor, she tripped and fell flat on her face. Rolling over and wiping tears from her eyes as her nose stung with pain, she saw Junior looming over her.

"Your freak buddy won't be around to help you all the time." He growled, as Gabby lay there, helpless. "And I'm going to make sure you hurt."

"What... what did I ever do?" Gabby managed to sniff, shuffling back from him.

"I don't like you. But no one does. No one likes the divorce kid." He growled again, before walking off.

Shaken, Gabby pulled herself to her feet; the good mood from a few moments ago instantly vanished. She looked around the empty halls. No one had seen. No one had heard. She was alone.

She walked quietly to homeroom, wishing harder than ever just to be invisible. She didn't want anyone to ask how she was. She didn't want anyone to talk to her. She just wanted everyone to leave her alone. She just wanted to go home.


	5. Chapter 5

The apartment was silent, save for the quiet chink of steel on china and the wet, gentle thuds of heavy black raindrops, as the TV babbled quietly to itself. This noise, it should have been enough. But to Gabby, it all faded away.

Maybe it was quite noisy after all, she supposed, with the TV on and the rain against the windows, but to her, it was all white noise, playing constantly and quietly behind her thoughts, so easy to block out.

All she could hear was Junior, with his stupid comments and his stupid laugh, pounding away little pieces of her mind.

Yakko looked up from his dinner, watching Gabby bat a few peas across the plate with her fork. Sitting at the table when there was only the two of them was little short of depressing, and he still hadn't quite settled in to the new apartment, so he and Gabby had taken to eating in front of the TV. He had been wary, at first, that Gabby became too dependent on the TV, but usually they had plenty of conversation over the top of whatever played in the background.

Tonight, though, there seemed a definite lull in energy. Gabby hadn't said a word, and seemed completely withdrawn. Mousey was one thing, but she usually had something to say... He rested his knife and fork together on his plate, putting it on the coffee table.

"You ok, Gab?"

"Oh..." She jumped, suddenly shocked out of her private thoughts. She looked around, but didn't take her eyes off the floor, and returned quickly to her barely touched dinner. "Yes, thanks."

"You're not eating."

"I'm... not hungry."

Yakko watched her, eyebrows raised. He had enough experience raising kids to know when they were troubled.

"Everything ok at school?"

There was a silent nod from Gabby as she continued to stare at her plate. Yakko took breaths to calm himself. _I want to help her. Why won't she just tell me what's wrong?_

"Any problems? With teachers, say? Or other kids?"

Silence. _Talk to me, Gabby, please..._

"Gabby?"

"Nothing. It's fine." She sniffed, putting her knife and fork down, and pushing her plate away.

"Gabby, you've hardly eaten anything." He was beginning to get a little frustrated. She wasn't normally this uncooperative, especially when it came to what she ate. "Please, try."

"I'm not hungry." She replied, and he thought he heard a slightly stubborn note edging into her voice.

"Look, I've worked hard today, I've come home and I've cooked it for you. It took a fair bit of time and energy, now please, eat." He spoke with a forced level to his voice, pushing her plate back in front of her.

"I don't want to." She insisted, pushing it away. Her voice faltered slightly as she spoke, and the wave of emotion that came with it meant she misjudged her movement, and the plate toppled off the edge of the coffee table, landing sauce down on the carpet.

"Gabby!" Yakko snapped, standing up. "Look what you've done now; that's going to stain!" He probably spoke a little too loudly. _No, dammit, I've had a hard day at work. I don't need this._

He stormed into the kitchen, grabbing paper towels and wet cloths. He came back in to see Gabby on her hands and knees, trying to scrape the food back onto the plate, but effectively pressing it deeper into the carpet.

"Gabby, you're treading it in, look! Move, I'll do it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"For god's sake, Gabby, can't you look at what you're doing for once?"

"I'm sorry!"

"How the hell am I going to get that out? It's gone everywhere..."

"I'm sorry!" She yelped, her eyes wide and watery. Yakko stopped, kneeling on the floor, wet cloth in hand.

He looked up at her. He couldn't remember the last time she'd raised her voice, and the sudden exclamation shocked him into silence. She stood, hunched and timid, her eyes watery and her cheeks flushed, peeking at him from under her tufts of hair.

"I'm sorry, and I didn't mean to but it wasn't my fault so please don't yell at me an-an-and..." her lip trembled, as big tears began to fall off the end of her tomato nose. "And you only yelled at me 'cos you're mad, not 'cos you don't love me anymore... right?"

_Not her fault? It was her fault! Stand firm, Yakko!_

"Daddy?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper between the sobs.

_Oh dear God, I'm a monster..._

Yakko threw the towel onto the floor and ran a hand over his face. Alright, maybe he had over-reacted. Besides, those big puppy dog eyes would make anyone crumble. Smiling quietly to himself, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms, walking over to the window.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, hugging her. "Stupid old dad let his problems out in the worst possible way. I was angry because of work, and I took it out on you. It was a very bad thing to do. Forgive me?"

There was a distinct sniff among the quiet snuffles, and he was pretty sure she nodded.

"Good. You are my number one favourite girl, whom I love more than anyone else in the world. I'll never stop loving you. Okay?"

"'Kay." A high pitched tremble emitted from her. He smiled again, patting her back and holding her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they stood hugging for some time. He looked out over the rain-splattered skyline of Toon Town. He closed his eyes, and let himself be lost in the hug.

_Go away, stress. Go away, trouble. Just leave me alone for a bit. Just let me have this moment, just this one moment... _

He'd let his job get the better of him before, and the results of that had been catastrophic. Even now, staring out across the saturated skyline, he still had no idea if he'd ever get a chance to make up for it. It had been seven... no, eight years now, with no contact.

Not a word.

Dot had married some writer, but he'd read that in some film Trade news magazine, the details had been minimal.

Wakko... he didn't have a clue. A horrible, dark gremlin of a thought teased at the corner of his mind; _Wakko could be dead by now..._

He pushed it down immediately, not even wanting to think about it.

Could he blame them, though, for the silence? No, of course not, they weren't to blame for any of it. He'd not tried to contact them, until about four years ago, just after having heard about Dot's marriage. He'd called Tellulah's house, he'd called the studios, he'd even called some of the old faces from Animaniacs to see if they knew anything, but all he'd gotten from it was the knowledge that Wakko and Tellulah had moved with no forwarding address...

That, and a large phone bill. Calling California from Florida got to be expensive.

The move itself hadn't been cheap, but at the time it had been necessary. Babs had her sights set on a career, and MGM studios had offered her one. He could get work there too, and he found that Disney was a lot easier to satisfy, musically speaking, than Warner Brothers. He'd often wondered how a rabbit and a famed flirt such as himself had only produced one child, but then he also knew, just as he'd always known, it was never meant to be. He wasn't surprised when she'd told him. It was almost as if she'd never been his. He was only borrowing her.

_A co-dependent rebound relationship that had been allowed to grow too much. But how do you explain that to a seven year old?_

"Junior said no one loves a divorce kid. He said I was ugly and a freak and that no one would love me."

Yakko was lost for a second by this sudden information, before remembering the situation at hand, rather than losing himself in the ones that had been.

"Who's Junior?"

"A boy in my class. He's horrible to my friends and no one likes him..."

"Sounds like a bully to me."

"He is."

"A big bully with no brains, if he thinks half of those things are anywhere near true. Because you're a beauty, you hear me?" He drummed his fingers on her back, emphasising each syllable. Gabby gave a tear-soaked laugh. "You want me to say something to the teachers?"

"No, he'd just pick on me more."

"No he won't." Yakko soothed, nuzzling the back of her neck with his nose. "Tell you what. You just ignore him, pay him no attention whatsoever, and if he's still being horrible by next week, I'll say something at the parent-teacher thing, ok? And I'll teach you some other ways to get rid of him if that doesn't work."

"Ok." She sniffed, sounding a little better now. "But what if-"

"No "what-ifs", just trust me. Ignore him completely, and get your friends to ignore him too. Pretty soon, he'll get bored and leave you alone."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." He laughed, spinning around so they both whirled in a circle, before setting her down on the floor again. "And like I said, if he doesn't I know tonnes of ways you can get him to leave you alone. Come on, let's get some paper towels and tidy up this mess. Unless you want to eat meatballs and carpet fluff?"

"Yuck!" She giggled, as they moved towards the kitchen.

"Oh no, I hear it's the new super-food; very high in fibre... On top of spaghetti..." Yakko sang, dancing around the pasta mess, cheered on by Gabby's high-pitched laugh. "All covered in cheese... I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed..."

Across town, Abbi hung her head, fiddling with her spoon. She occasionally dragged her eyes up from the table, but her Dad was still eating, and didn't seem to notice her. She looked back at the table.

_Suits me fine,_ She thought. _The table isn't about to kill me for causing trouble again._

Her mum was in the kitchen, preparing dessert. They'd just finished dinner, and it had been a very quiet meal. Abbi knew that the school had phoned home to tell them about the fight, but so far neither parent had said anything.

She knew it was coming, though.

_Dad hasn't made one funny face or silly joke all evening. He's waiting for the perfect moment to..._

"Spoon down, please, Abbi." She jumped a little as her Dad addressed her, and hastily replaced the spoon. She looked up to see him staring at her, with his elbows on the table and his hands together under his chin.

_Uh-oh..._ _This looks bad.._.

She'd often been told off before, but it was usually just a "don't do that" or "get down from there", or "No, don't put your hand in it's mouth". This looked like it might be serious... This looked like it might lead to a proper punishment.

She wasn't a bad kid, not really... she just had a little trouble staying focused, and had a habit of not thinking things all the way through.

She slowly dragged her eyes up to meet her fathers. They were, for once, completely blank. He stared at her, totally silent and completely still, with no suggestion of any emotion. It unnerved her. Had she been that bad? Was he so angry he couldn't talk to her? What if he never spoke to her ever again?

"You know the school called earlier?"

"Yeah..." She croaked, trying a nervous smile. He remained still. She looked back at the table.

"Why were you fighting?"

"Because... Because it's not my fault! Junior was being horrible to me and Gabby and Todd so I had to do something, and he threw a ball at Gabby and knocked her over. I was only sticking up for her."

"But violence isn't the way to do it." He spoke in a forced level, stressing each syllable.

"Like you've never hit anyone!" Abbi pouted, defiantly. Wakko raised an eyebrow. Her defiance fell quicker than a skydiver who'd gotten conned on parachute repairs.

"This is not about what I have or haven't done." He continued to speak in a calm, measured tone, staring her straight in the eye. This was something he had learned from Yakko, many years ago. The key to dealing with younger children, is to let them know exactly how you feel, and exactly why you feel it.

"This is about you not acting properly. It upsets me to hear that my daughter is getting into fights. It makes me sad to think that you don't know that fighting is bad behaviour."

"I know and I'm sorry but I had to do something!" She whined, looking at him through large puppy-dog eyes. Wakko had the upper hand though. He'd had years of exposure to puppy dog eyes and felt he was guarded against them, or at the very least, immune.

He looked down at her, determined to remain strong and stern. She needed to learn, and she needed to be punished... He looked down at her, and saw her large watery eyes.

_Curses. There goes that plan._

"I'm sorry, dad..." she said again, looking away and picking at the cuff of her jumper.

"I know..." He sighed, covering his face in his hands. She looked up at him, and he pulled his hands away, revealing his cross-eyed, puffy cheeked Gookie face. She giggled, smiling and slipping down from her chair.

"Why do you pull that funny face?"

"That funny face?" Wakko repeated, a little indignant. "That's a Grade-A Gookie, my girl. It's a historic tradition." He grinned, hugging her, before pulling away slightly, so he could rest his nose on hers. "Now you listen to me. If I ever hear about you resorting to violence again, I will be very disappointed, you understand?"

"Yes, Dad." She nodded, soberly.

"You come from a family of great wit. Violence is not the answer. If some kid's annoying you, then fight with your words, not your hands."

"Yes, dad."

"Good. Now that is a promise, and it can't be broken. Now go on, go run off dinner before your mother comes out with dessert."

She grinned, wrapped her hands around his neck once more, and ran off.

He hadn't punished her.

He hadn't smacked her or grounded her or yelled at her.

But that look... that look of utter disappointment. It was all she needed. She knew it would be too much to bear if she ever did it again.

He smiled as she ran off upstairs. Eight years old and didn't recognise a Gookie... he needed to educate her in the classics. Stretching his arms, he walked out of the dining room, towards the stairs. Bending down, he opened the stair cupboard, and took in the shelves of films hidden behind it.

Videos and DVDs that he had loved since childhood. There was about half a shelf dedicated to Tellulah's chick films, but it paled into insignificance next to collections of action, explosions, comedy, music, and sheer imagination.

He adored films. It was escape, it was enjoyment... you could be anywhere, do anything, at the touch of a button. He pulled away a stack of DVDs on the top shelf to reveal yet more.

_There you are, guys... long time, no see._

A set of six boxes, containing the entire collection of Marx Brothers films. He moved it to a space at the front of the second shelf, so he would be reminded to show Abbi some time. Maybe they could watch them tonight, if no one had any other plans...

Curious, he looked at the other boxes on that pile. A Muppet Show collection featuring Bob Hope, Milton Berle and George Burns; He remembered Dot had given it to him for his 18th birthday. He had been very much into the old Vaudeville comics at the time. Behind that, there was a collection of Don Knotts... God, he hadn't watched them in years. He remembered being probably the only eleven year old in existence to be obsessed with him... in fact, at that point in the nineties he was probably the only eleven year old to have a clue who Don Knotts was.

Underneath the Don Knotts videos was a bumper collection box of Tiny Toon Adventures, which Buster had signed jokingly about a week after they'd first met. It had been embarrassing, having a co-worker find out he was a fan of theirs, but Buster had handled it with good grace and invited him out for pizza. He chuckled to himself as he eased the video from its place in the pile, dusting it off. He remembered the first few weeks on the film lot, and how the idea of pizza had been a welcome break. What with them being moved in to the water tower, Tiny Toons still being filmed, writers being reassigned to different projects, and casting for the rest of the show...

He was still amazed how many people actually brought the idea they'd been locked in the tower since the twenties. He knew they'd looked old-fashioned, but he'd always felt that believing that as fact was a stretch for the imagination.

He remembered the looks on Bill and Maggie's face. He'd never called them Mom or Dad, and neither had Dot. They were Bill and Maggie, the foster parents who wanted some extra income that wasn't tax-deductible. They were a horrible, sour-faced elder couple, with him greasing his black hair back from it's ever receding line, and her squeezing herself into one lurid spandex top after another.

From the age of six to the age of ten, Wakko had been their decoy, working for nothing in Bill's shop, living by Maggie's ridiculous house-rules, and alerting them should anyone official looking come sneaking around. Wakko had taken on the role of decoy and later second thief in command, stealing from one shop what Bill and Maggie could sell in theirs... Still, Yakko had often reminded them it was better than living with their biological parents.

_Now there was a match made in hell. _

Yelling at each other all the time they were in the house, which admittedly wasn't much. By five, he knew more cuss words from over-hearing his parents than any other kid. That was why he hated foul language, and violence. All three of them did. Using crude language and throwing things; it just made the fight dirty, and there are no winners in a dirty fight, as they had witnessed many times. He supposed it was because they had been first generation toons, but everything his parents did seemed to either be doom and gloom or sunshine and lollipops. Every time someone had referred to the Warner siblings as "unpredictable", Wakko had been inclined to mutter "you should meet our parents."

After finally running out of insults and ornaments to throw, their parents had divorced, and dumped the Warners at a care home, where they were adopted by Bill and Maggie some months later. That was when Yakko had come into his stride. Being the oldest, he'd always looked out for them a little more, but when they were left with a choice between negligent care home workers, or being hustlers and scroungers for Bill and Maggie, he really took control. It was him that got them into the auditions. The Warners were never happier than when they were putting on plays, or acting out pieces from plays, or trying to out-do each other at word-play or funny faces. So, he'd got them into an open audition at Warner Brothers.

They were made to walk, with everyone else, in a line past the directors table. The first three times they did it, they got nothing, but then somehow, they got picked out for a new show being produced by Steven Spielberg. The rest, as they say, is history. Bill and Maggie were dumbstruck when they found out they were losing their minions, but the three children had been adamant. Sign the contract, or they'd tell the police the whole sordid deal. Petty thievery on one count is nothing big, but incriminating a minor and threatening them to perform illegal and unlawful acts on over 15 separate occasions... Yakko knew how to talk his way out of a situation, even then...

Wakko blinked a little, as the blank smiles grinned at him from underneath Buster's black marker pen scribble. God, he missed those days, sometimes.

It wasn't the filming.

It wasn't the lifestyle.

It wasn't the free buffets, although they were fun...

It was the feeling of belonging. His siblings. Every day, when Tellulah was pregnant, he wanted to call Yakko, and ask for advice. When they were getting married, he wanted to talk to Dot, ask her the most romantic way to say his vows. And when Abbi was born, the entire sun-flooded sky of pure amazement and love... it was only smeared by one little cloud. No matter what happened, there would always be those missing branches of the family tree.

Where were they?

He'd stayed in Europe with Tellulah and her sister-in-law for about six months after that god-forsaken argument. In those six months, Yakko had moved out of the tower. Dot was just untraceable, and her roommate was less than helpful. They'd disappeared, it seemed, along with a big part of him. He shook his head, putting the video back on its shelf. He nudged another video, and it toppled off, landing face down on the floor. Wakko picked it up.

_"Animaniacs sing-along Volume 1" _

Sometimes, life just seemed too ironic to be true.

"Wakk, sweetie!" Tellulah stuck her head round the door, looking at him. "Dessert's done, can you go get Abbi?"

"Sure thing." He stood up, stretching.

"You alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just... reminiscing." He gave a thin lipped smile. _Just reminiscing._

Todd gripped the back of the chair with his white gloved hands, watching his mum's feet carefully. He dragged his foot back across the floor, so that first the heel, then the toe of the shoe connected, making the same light tap sound as his mother. She grinned at him, and changed feet. Learning tap dancing was hard.

First there was the problem with shoes; most of the time he didn't bother wearing shoes, as his feet were resilient enough to withstand day to day use without protection. But tap dancing meant you needed shoes, and the size of his feet meant they were difficult to get hold of. Not impossible, but difficult. He wondered if it was easier for humans, or even human toons to learn tap dancing. But his mum and his teacher said he was getting the hang of it, so maybe he wasn't that bad.

Tap dancing was just one of Todd's fascinations with a bygone age. Dot had often sat with him, watching old Fred Astaire films, and other musicals, most of which had a dance number at some point. Todd had decided he wanted to dance too, which Dot encouraged, as she loved tap dancing herself. So here they were, stood in the living room, practicing pickup steps.

It may not sound like much, but to Dot, these Saturday morning moments were the times she would treasure. Soon, she would be called into rehearsal, and Carrie Leon would be there any minute to take Todd to the park for the day. Then she'd get home at six, pour herself a smoothie and curl up with Todd and Graham, and sometimes even Max, and they'd all enjoy a film.

If it was just her and Todd, it was usually one of her old musicals.

If Graham was there, then it would be a black and white classic, something like Casablanca or the Marx Brothers.

And if Max was there, it was guaranteed to be colour and explosions. She didn't mind. A film was a film, either way, and she loved the sense of escape and fantasy. That was one of the Warner family traits, she guessed, being a film buff.

Todd seemed to have inherited this trait, for he loved films, and his favourites were all the old black and white ones. Ever since he was a baby, he'd been fascinated by the soft sounds and flickering colours. He seemed to like the way everyone dressed and acted back then, too.

_Maybe even the way they spoke, though from his constant Harpo Marx impersonation it's hard to tell. _

She watched as he stared down at his feet, carefully analysing each step like he was reading a new word, before he turned around and started doing shuffle steps. Dot rolled her eyes. He seemed to like shuffle steps. She wouldn't mind, but they scratched the hell out of the floor...

The doorbell rang, just as Todd jumped onto the couch, reaching down and untying his shoes. Dot walked over to the door, her shoes still tapping with each step. She opened the door to see Carrie Leon, Todd's plump, bushy haired minder standing there, looking flushed and nervous.

"Carrie, are you alright?"

"Oh, Dot, sweetheart I'm so sorry but I can't look after Todd today." She pulled her green plastic rimmed shades down her nose, and Dot saw her eyes were pink, as if she'd been crying. "Erwin was over at his father's house and I just got a phone call saying he'd swallowed something- Erwin, I mean, and now they've had to take him to hospital."

"Gosh, yes... I understand completely!" Dot nodded, the poor woman's worry was becoming contagious. "Yes, by all means, I'll just cancel rehearsal-"

"Oh no, Dot, sweetheart, there's no need for that..." Carrie pushed her glasses back up her nose and began rooting around in her yellow PVC handbag. "That's why I came to see you... I have an address here of a friend who said she'd look after Todd... She's not as young as she used to be, bless her, but she certainly knows how to take care of kids... Here we go!" She smiled triumphantly, masking the worry, as she pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Dot. "Now I really have to go..." She sniffed again, and ran back towards the gate. "Send her my love!"

"Yes, I hope Erwin's better soon!" Dot called after her, before easing the door shut. She turned round to see Todd poking his nose over the back of the couch. "Well." She said, managing a smile. "Looks like you're going to have a new minder today."

And so, a half hour later, Dot and Todd found themselves outside a retirement complex, on the outskirts of Toon Town. Dot raised her eyebrows, wondering if an elderly woman was really suitable care... But if Carrie trusted her, it would be commendation enough, right? She gripped Todd's hand, and they walked through the doors, and handed the piece of paper to the nurse behind the desk. The nurse was a pink octopus-toon, who was, naturally, doing three jobs at once. Looking up from the pen and paper, on which she was scribbling some notes, the nurse put a tentacle over the end of the telephone she was talking into and looked at the address.

"Ah. Did Ms Leon send you over for emergency child care?" She said with a slight roll of the eyes, suggesting it wasn't an unfamiliar routine.

"Uh... yes."

"Go through the double doors, into the garden area. 31 C, you can't miss it."

"Oh... thank you." Dot was slightly caught off guard by how easily the Nurse was accepting he protocol, and had been expecting a very different response. "Well... come on, Todd." She shrugged, smiling down at her son, who grinned back up at her and pushed through the heavy glass doors.

The garden area was a lush green lawn, with flower beds, trees, benches and a water feature, all arranged to make a sort of courtyard, currently being enjoyed by both residents and nurses of the centre. In the middle of the courtyard stood a large acorn tree, with a small blue door in the bark, just tall enough for Dot to go through, and quite round.

Dot gave a gasp, and realised she hadn't checked the name on the piece of paper Carrie had given her. Reaching into her pocket, she fumbled with the paper, trying to unfold it. Grinning, the name scrawled in blue ink on the top of the piece of paper confirmed Dot's suspicions.

"Todd." She grinned, walking towards the tree and knocking on the door. "You're about to meet an old friend of mine."

Todd, intrigued, jumped up the small doorstep and stood a little behind his mother. He wasn't usually shy, but he didn't want to intrude.

Dot knocked three times, and for a while there was silence. Todd looked at the door handle, waiting for it to move.

He scratched his nose.

Maybe they should knock again. He'd just reached forwards to do so when the door flew open and revealed a slightly hunched-over, sharp-eyed squirrel toon, with a green bowler hat and a dark green umbrella.

"Yeah, what?" The squirrel raised an eyebrow, looking from one of her visitors to the other. Todd quietly gripped his mother's jeans, a little intimidated by this old woman.

_Mother, you see the scary squirrel too, yes?_

Dot just grinned, and scooped Todd up in her arms, before smiling happily at the squirrel.

"What, a girl can't pay her old co-star a visit?" She smiled wryly, as Slappy squinted at her, before her eyes grew wide with realisation.

"Can we come in, or am I still on the dynamite penalty for throwing your walnuts down the garbage disposal?"

Slappy allowed herself a grin, before standing aside to let Dot in.

"Well, better late than never, I suppose. Carrie phoned to tell me she was deferring some of her charges my way, but I never cottoned that a "Todd Strizlecki" would be anything to do with you." She coughed a little, rubbing the small of her back, before shuffling closer to Todd. "I assume that you must be Todd then?"

Todd looked at the squirrel, before smiling and extending his hand.

_Who knows, maybe she's not so bad..._

"Well, ain't he the gentleman?" Slappy chuckled, shaking his hand. "To recycle a catchphrase, you remind me of a young Harpo Marx."

_Oh, well... flattery will get you everywhere..._

Todd beamed at the compliment, jumping out of his mother's arms and standing happily on the floor. Dot laughed, and hugged Slappy.

"It's been so long..."

"I should say. Here, sit down, let's talk." Slappy motioned to one of the old brown armchairs in front of her TV set. The room was pretty much the same as her old tree, which they filmed most of Slappy's cartoons in, except there was a kitchen/breakfast bar area, and a chairlift on the stairs. There was also a small playpen in the space underneath the stairs, which looked like something stolen from the set of Rugrats. Dot stopped, and thought for a moment. Knowing Slappy, it probably had been stolen from the set of Rugrats, and if it had, she didn't want to know.

"Where in the heck have you been for the last eight years?" Slappy chuckled, easing herself in to one of the chairs. From the side of the chair, she picked up a large maroon handbag and began rifling through it. She eventually produced an old VHS tape and read the label. Then she looked at Todd.

"You, good sir, look like a connoisseur of the classics."

Todd wrinkled his nose in confusion.

"You like old 'toons, kid?"

Todd nodded enthusiastically, and sat down on the floor, resting his head against Dot's feet as she sat in the second armchair. Slappy smiled to herself and pushed the old tape into the VCR. The TV set fuzzed for a moment, before playing the opening for "Cave-girl Slappy". Todd was instantly mesmerised, and let the cheery music take him away.

Slappy sat back, and turned to Dot.

"I tried keepin' up with you in the papers, but I didn't get much. Three years at TAPA, then you got married to some director, then what?"

"I worked for a year, and then I had Todd." Dot stated, a little defensive. She could see from the stare Slappy was giving her, this was going to be a Serious Conversation. She had had enough Serious Conversations with the squirrel during her teenage years, and really didn't like the idea of having more of them now.

"Oh." Slappy said, quite simply, sitting back in her chair again. Her eyes flickered to the TV screen, and to Todd, who giggled as a younger Slappy caved in Beanie the Bison's head with a prehistoric club. Dot gritted her teeth, and waited for the question that she knew was coming, watching Slappy, almost daring her to say something. But she said nothing.

_Maybe she's grown soft in her old age..._

Dot turned her attention to the TV set, stroking Todd's ears absent-mindedly.

"So what's this director husband of yours like?" Slappy asked, dragging her eyes away from the TV set.

"He's nice." Dot smiled, leaning back in her chair. "Very clever. Very funny. He's a bit of a work-a-holic, but then man is moulded by his flaws."

"What?"

"Shakespeare." Dot smiled, looking at Slappy.

"Oh that's right; you're in the theatre now." Slappy grinned, a slight mock posh tone to her voice. "How goes things in the limelight? The old Televisual set not up to standard, eh?"

"Slappy." Dot half reprimanded, half whined. "I like the theatre. It's fun, you actually get to feel what the audience feels. It's not just acting, it's an experience."

"Yeah, if you say so, kid." Slappy grinned at Dot, her eyes narrowed as if in triumph. Dot just smiled and shook her head.

"So... Have you spoken to the boys since that bust up a few years back?"

Dot tensed as the squirrel smirked, knowing Dot would answer her.

_Damn. So much for the "Slappy got soft" theory... should have known better than to let my guard down._

"No. And I'd thank you not to talk about them now."

"Why not?" Slappy's tone was as level as ever, but Dot knew exactly what she was getting at.

"Hey, I tried. It's not my fault. I just... stuff got in the way, ok?"

"Hey, no-one's accusing you..." Slappy held her hands up in defence, and her eyes slowly slid to Todd, who had now dragged his own eyes away from the cartoon to look at his mother in confusion. Dot smiled, and stepped over him so she could stand up.

"Todd, sweetie, you sit here and watch the cartoons, Slappy and I have grown up things to talk about." Dot bent down and kissed his nose, before walking over to the breakfast bar area. Slappy followed, slowly, and with a grudging cough.

"All I'm saying is that the kid deserves to know his own family. If he did, we could have had this conversation sitting down, rather than making an old lady do laps around her own home..."

"I will tell him." Dot muttered. "I just... can't. Not yet."

"What are you waiting for, an invitation?"

"No... I don't know, I just... can't."

"If he doesn't know about his uncles, I'm guessing he doesn't know about the show either?"

"He doesn't need to know." Dot snapped, pressing her fingers over her eyes.

"Yeah, well..." Slappy muttered, drumming her fingers on the handle of her umbrella. "They say that you can only ever teach if you know you've finished your own lessons."

Dot took her hands away from her eyes, and gave Slappy a long, hard look.

"Who has ever said that, Slappy?"

"Uh..."

"In the history of the world, who has ever said that?"

"I read it in a fortune cookie once." Slappy shrugged, innocently, then quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, what's with the Harpo Marx obsession?"

"Oh, that's his father's influence. Todd's obsessed with all the old black and white films."

"He's a quiet thing, isn't he?"

"No, he makes noise, alright. He just doesn't speak." Dot rolled her eyes, leaning on the breakfast bar.

"Any particular reason?"

"I don't know... he can, he just chooses not to. Graham keeps talking about having him checked for signs of autism. I know, though. Todd's not ill. Graham just doesn't understand."

Dot's tone was unavoidably bitter. Things had been far from paradise lately, with Graham under stress from work, and her under stress from her brat of a stepson. Things were different from how they used to be. The kind kisses, the happy family photos... somehow, all those things had melted away. And somehow, looking up at Slappy through weary eyes, Dot knew the squirrel understood. Slappy had always been there for her, one of the few other female toons on set. Dot put her hand on Slappy's, and sighed.

"When did it all get so hard?"

Slappy patted her hand sympathetically, returning her gaze.

"When you grew up, kiddo."

Then she turned away, clutching the small of her back again, and walking back towards her chair.

"You should hear the tales I get from Skippy. 'Course, he doesn't go by that name any more. He's Scott or Skyler or something equally moronic. He's an agent now, you know, following in my footsteps."

"Does he know where the footsteps lead yet?"

"Hey. I'd rather he were an agent than an actor. But still, why don't you call off whatever you've got on today, sit here with me, we'll have cocoa, coffee, cartoons, and slowly but surely put the world to lefts." Slappy winked at Todd, who grinned.

He liked this lady. She was odd, and spoke to his mum like she did to him when he'd been bad, but she was friendly, and funny, and he had a feeling she could teach him a lot.


	6. Chapter 6

Abbi stared up at the clock, her tail twitching in irritation. Why was it so slow?

_It's a conpsiracy... a consp... it's a plot, it's gotta be. It decides to stop working five minutes before recess._

She was almost sure it had stopped all together when Gabby nudged her in the ribs and motioned to look like they were working. She started guiltily as Bugs raised an eyebrow in her direction, before smiling nervously and bending low over her English book. Considering he was one of the most popular 'toons ever, it was odd the kind of reaction he instilled in pupils. It was a kind of fearful respect in most; the kids all idolised him but were deadly afraid of getting on his bad side. After all, it's one thing for the guy to be principal, it's another to see him blowing up bad guys every Saturday morning.

Abbi had been sent to him after the incident with Junior, and it had been a worrying experience. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting... in fact, a part of her had been betting on dynamite in her schoolbag, but she didn't get anything like that, which sort of made it worse. She had been marched into his office, while Junior had been sat down roughly in one of the hard, plastic yellow chairs, designed to be as uncomfortable as possible.

She had been a little proud of the fact Junior looked very sorry for himself, but any smile was wiped from her face when she was deposited in front of Bugs' desk. He had looked up from a bunch of papers he was signing, and slowly rested his pen in the silver strip at the front of his desk, before knotting his fingers together and looking up at Finster.

"What's up here, Ms. Finster?" He had sounded more curious than suspicious, but he had shot Abbi a quick glance, as if summing her up. Abbi had hid her hands behind her back, and looked at the floor.

"Trouble-makers, Sir." Finster had growled, glaring at Abbi so hard it burned. "Fighting in the playground. The other one's waiting outside."

"It wasn't my fault..." Abbi had mumbled, feeling she should at least try to defend herself.

"You'll speak when you're spoken to, Abigail-"

"Now hold on, Finster." Bugs had raised one hand, not taking his eyes off Abbi. "I'll be the one in charge of discipline here. Why don't you go keep an eye on the other little squirt. Who is...?"

"Oh... Junior Gregg, sir."

"Ah. Yeah, you keep an eye on him, I'll talk to Abbi."

Abbi had always been a little struck by the fact that Bugs seemed to know everybody's name, or seemed genuinely embarrassed if he couldn't remember. He was a great toon in every definition of the word, and he struck Abbi with an amazing presence. As Finster left, Abbi had pulled her hood further forward over her face, not wanting Bugs to see her blush. Bugs, however, had merely raised an eyebrow and returned to his papers.

There was silence.

It seemed to drag on forever; total silence, except the scratching of Bugs' pen. Abbi just stared at her feet, hoping he would just punish her and get it over with.

"Abbi." He had said, eventually. Abbi had looked up from the floor, but found he wasn't looking at her, so she had let her head fall back down.

"Yes, sir..." Her voice was hoarse, and her tongue felt dry.

"How come you and Junior were fighting? I'd always had it that you two were friends."

"We used to be, Mr Bunny..." She'd stammered, still talking to the carpet. "But since I've started playing with Gabby I guess he doesn't like her or something, and that's why we were fighting." She looked up sharply, a little taken aback to find him staring at her over the tops of his fingers, which were knotted together again with his elbows on the desk.

"You were fighting because he doesn't like Gabby?"

"No... well, yes, but... He came over and started being mean to her and throwing stuff at her, and he was mean to Todd too so... I had to stick up for them, 'cos they're my friends, see, and he was making Gabby cry, and..." She had trailed off, as she caught eye contact with Bugs. He'd held her gaze for a long, awkward silence, before suddenly looking back at his desk.

"Next time, I suggest you tell a teacher and save yourself some trouble."

"But, he was..."

"We do have rules about bullying, and we'll be watching Junior closely from now on, but we can't do a thing if no one tells us it's happening. Understand?"

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." She'd smiled a little, but knew he still had to punish her.

"I'll have to call your parents, as a manner of principle, but that'll be all."

_Really? Sweet..._

"Of course, Finster's a little more old fashioned than me, and will be expecting you to serve a lunch time detention."

"Oh..." _Not Sweet._

There was another long pause, as Abbi watched Bugs turn back to his work. Her throat got so dry, it started to itch. Wasn't he going to yell, or throw dynamite, or anything? Her throat was getting worse because of the silence, she was sure of it. She needed to clear it, but she didn't want to make a noise... no, it was no good...

Abbi had cleared her throat, causing Bugs to slowly look up at her, his eyes catching hers again. His expression was odd; on the surface it looked simply questioning, as if he'd thought she was going to say something, but underneath... his eyes were cold, making it slightly threatening. After giving Abbi this look for another awkward silence, he looked back at his papers.

"We're done, now, Abbi. Tell Finster to send Junior in."

Abbi had never been happier to leave a room. He hadn't yelled or given her any long speeches about correct behaviour, but she'd certainly got the message. Don't break Bugs' rules, or there will be trouble.

It was with this thought in mind that Abbi hurriedly scribbled in her English notebook, as she counted the seconds to recess. Over the weekend, she'd been doing a lot of thinking, and she wasn't letting that go to waste. She had a plan, and she was pretty sure Gabby and Todd were going to like it.

"Wow..." Gabby grinned, looking down as Abbi held her backpack open. Todd grinned, as he saw the gleaming red plastic nestling on top of Abbi's notebooks. The three of them were stood near the back of the playground, huddled around Abbi's bag, in an attempt to maintain secrecy. Abbi hadn't said who they had to keep the secret from, only that the royal spies were everywhere.

"Remember what we said, about the king and the queen and their spies watching out for us?" Abbi grinned, her tail twitching with excitement.

"Yeah, but..." Gabby still wasn't sure if she really believed the story. When Abbi spoke about it, it was hard not to get taken in by her enthusiasm, but the story didn't quite make sense. Gabby wrinkled her nose, looking from Abbi to Todd. "We don't know if it's real, do we? It might not be..."

"Ah..." Abbi closed her eyes, and gave a contented smile. "That's what I was thinking about, this weekend. Today's Monday, and the parent-teacher evening is on Thursday. Now, they don't know we know each other-"

"My dad does." Gabby gasped, before guiltily looking at the floor. "I talk about you two a lot."

"Yes..." Abbi sighed and rolled her eyes, continuing in an exasperated tone. "But he doesn't know who we are, does he? There's a lot of girls called Abbi and a lot of boys named Todd. Unless he sees us, he won't know who we are, will he?"

"Oh... I guess not..."

Abbi hit her friend on the head with the side of the walkie talkie, lightly enough to show her she wasn't angry. Gabby smiled, filled with relief.

"Ok, so what we do is, on the parent-teacher thingy, we each have one of these, see..." She waved the gleaming red walkie talkie, holding it so the aerial pointed from Gabby to Todd whenever she moved her hand. "And we make sure that our parents are never in the same room, 'cos otherwise they'll figure out what's going on. And you gotta make sure they don't see you either."

"So we use the walkie talkies to make sure we're never in the same room." Gabby grinned, liking the sound of this plan. It was like playing spies. Todd was grinning too, rubbing his hands together, then clapping them over his mouth as he giggled. He was very easily excited, and Gabby guessed he had to do silly actions since he didn't speak. Abbi seemed used to it, and usually either played along or translated for people who didn't understand. Gabby giggled herself, as Todd continued to pull funny faces. Abbi tried to look withering and in charge, but she was smirking herself, so it didn't really work.

"Look, we each take one of these, and put them on channel 1." Abbi handed over the first walkie talkie to Gabby, and took a second one out of her bag for Todd. Todd stopped grinning, and knitted his eyebrows, looking from the walkie talkie to Abbi, before crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, Todd, I've thought of that already. If you take one, you can listen in on the conversations and knock on the plastic once for yes, twice for no."

Todd nodded his head, and stowed the walkie talkie in his pocket.

"Abbi, what if these get lost or your mom and dad ask about them?" Gabby felt warm inside, it was the first time a friend had asked her to look after anything, and it was the first time she'd been involved in a plan.

"I got them two years ago for Christmas. They don't know I've ever used them." Abbi grinned, a little proud of herself. She'd thought through every detail of her plan, and both Gabby and Todd seemed happy to go through with it.

They all packed away their walkie talkies, and walked back towards the school as the bell screamed at them to return to class. The day was passed with much whispering and conspiracies, which mostly went unnoticed by supervising teachers. In the days leading up to Acme Elementary parent-teacher evening, a state of nervous panic grew in a lot of the teachers. The evening was geared as much to show off the school as to evaluate the pupils, with each child being given a list of appointments to pass on to their parents, so they could visit each teacher and receive a personal report. Parents would be free to wander the school in-between appointments, with a lot of rooms decorated with displays, made especially for the occasion. Art lessons were given over to making posters and banners, and the best students in Toon Skills were asked to perform basic routines in the gym. Although Abbi, Gabby and Todd were all asked if they would like to perform, they had decided the plan would fail if they were doing public displays of skill. Gabby was, secretly, very glad of this. She knew Todd did dancing outside of school, and Abbi was part of a drama club, but she herself started to tremble at the thought of being on stage in front of people. She wasn't allowed to ponder this for too long, though, as Abbi had decided the noise of art class to be perfect to cover any talk of their plan.

"Don't you worry, Gab." She'd hissed, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Thursday, we'll find out what's going on once and for all!"

Yakko sniffed and rolled over onto his side, annoyed that something was interrupting his sleep. Well, he hadn't been sleeping, just... dozing. He wasn't old enough to start falling asleep in the afternoon, and he wouldn't be for some time.

Not while he had any say in it.

He grunted again as the poking sensation in his shoulder turned into a more pronounced shove.

"G'way..." He mumbled, wriggling deeper into the sofa cushions.

"Daddy... it's six o'clock... parent's evening starts at quarter past."

"Ohh..." Yakko sighed, rolling onto his back, and looking at Gabby. He raised his eyebrows and blinked a couple of times, before sticking his bottom lip out. "I suppose that means we better go, huh?"

"Yes, come on!" Gabby grabbed his hand, and started trying to pull him off the sofa. Yakko laughed at this, toying with the idea of being extra slow, just to wind her up. She wasn't usually this eager... maybe this meant she was enjoying her new school? She'd mentioned some friends a few times, he knew that. Smiling, Yakko rubbed his eyes and grabbed his coat. As he walked through the kitchen, he poured himself some coffee. Gabby ran past, dropping the car keys on the counter for him as she ran back to her room. Yakko raised an eyebrow, but refused to think anymore until he'd had his coffee. After draining the cup, he felt a lot better, and stepped back as Gabby ran through with her backpack.

"Are you really going to need that, Gab?"

"Need what?" Gabby looked very distracted, and was hopping about all over the place. She kept looking up at the big kitchen clock, too.

"Your pack."

"Oh... I... I just want it, is all." She smiled, before running behind him and starting to push him towards the door.

"Hey- Hey! Alright, alright, I'm going! Sheesh... I've never known a kid get this worked up about parent's evening..." Yakko shook his head as he grabbed the car keys and walked out of the door, watching Gabby run towards the car. "This had better be worth it."

Dot smiled politely at the horse toon who was sat in front of her, large teeth exposed in a very wide grin.

"Todd is doing marvellously, absolutely marvellously." The horse had a ridiculous accent, the kind of caricature posh voice that makes you cringe a little. "He's finally settled, even if we did have to skip him a few grades, and he seems to be making friends quite well."

"Oh, that's good." Dot smiled, not wanting to risk saying too much in case she burst out laughing. This woman was a child psychiatrist? How had she survived? Scratchensniff had been forced into retirement a year after the show finished, for sake of his own mental health. She shot a sneaky look at Todd, who was sat on one of the orange plastic chairs beside her. He looked as though he was trying hard to sit still and be good. Dot had seen that look many times before. Still, Todd seemed to have managed, for his credit, to put up with regular meetings with this woman and not drive her crazy... at least he was showing restraint.

"Of course, there was that one incident with Junior Gregg, but that seems to be a one off-"

"Incident?" Dot snapped back to the conversation, her eyebrows raised and her eyes stony. "What incident?"

"Junior was caught teasing Todd and his friends, but the boy was punished and there seems to be no more trouble."

"Oh... well, I suppose that's ok. Todd, why didn't you tell me?"

Todd smiled and shrugged, making out like it was no big deal. Inside, though, he was angry.

_Teasing? That was "Teasing", was it? Didn't feel like teasing, it felt like full on bullying._

He felt quite upset by this massive understatement. He felt like breaking his silence, turning to his mother and saying "actually, I didn't say anything about "teasing", because no "teasing" happened. Now, if you had said "abuse and violence", that would be a different story."

But he didn't say that. He didn't say anything. Instead, he just let them think he was happy, and let the conversation move on. He knew if he said anything now, it would cause a fuss, and he didn't want that. He had a plan to stick to.

Todd walked along the school corridors with Dot, holding her hand. She was looking around at the displays on the walls, and not at him. Perfect. Carefully, he removed the walkie talkie from his pocket, and turned it on.

Abbi's voice crackled through at a whisper.

"Watch out... me and Dad are headed to homeroom!"

Todd looked behind him. They were in the homeroom corridor. He needed to get his mother out of there, fast! He suddenly burst into a run, pulling her towards the gym. He knew Mr M, their Toon Skills teacher, would be there, and would keep his Mum talking for a while.

"Todd, what the... slow down, will ya?" Dot laughed, confused. Todd grinned up at her, but looked behind her, and saw Abbi's head poking round the corner at the end of the corridor. They made eye contact, both faces panicked. Todd grinned at his mother again, before tugging hard on her arm so she had no choice but to run to keep up with him.

"Todd, slow down!" She yelped, as she stumbled through the gym doors.

Abbi breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her Dad catch up with her.

"Abbi, you've got to stop running off like that..."

"Sorry dad." She smiled broadly, her hands behind her back, clutching nervously at the Walkie Talkie. "But like you said, the faster we go, the sooner we can get it over with."

Wakko raised an eyebrow. Something was definitely up. What, he couldn't say. He shrugged, and walked past her into the corridor. He would ride the night out, and keep guessing. He knew Abbi was planning something, and he knew he'd be able to figure it out. After all, wasn't he one of the biggest pranksters of his generation? Except maybe the Simpson kid, but he was first generation... and crazy.

The evening passed fairly well, or so Abbi thought. The parents hadn't met, although there had been a few very close shaves. At one point, she and her dad had entered a room the same moment as Gabby and her dad had left; luckily all that they saw was Gabby's tail flicking round the door corner, but Abbi knew it had been her. Abbi smiled to herself as her Dad shook hands and said goodbye to Mr M. That was the last teacher they had to see, and nothing bad had happened. She'd even got some very positive feedback from various teachers, and at one point Junior's Dad had marched over to them, looking very cross. Junior was standing some way behind, dragging his feet. His dad had said he was making Junior apologise to all the kids he had picked on, and wanted them to know he would be punished for getting into trouble.

So that dealt with that problem.

Her Dad motioned for her to leave, and they walked out of the gym doors together.

"Man, how can you have that guy as a teacher?" Wakko shook his head and grimaced. "With teeth that big, I'd be afraid he was going to eat me." Abbi laughed, and slipped her hand into his.

"Can we go home now?"

"Yeah, just gotta use the restroom before we go... Where's the nearest one?"

"By the teacher's lounge. I'll show you." Abbi grinned, leading her father towards the teacher's lounge. However, as she rounded the corner, she stopped dead. Todd was standing outside the ladies' bathroom, and looked terrified when he saw her. If he was outside, that meant his mum must be...

"Uhhh I just remembered, these ones don't work too well." Abbi spun round, trying to keep her Dad out of sight of the toilet doors. She hoped Todd was doing the same.

"Don't work? What do you mean?"

"Uhh... there's... uhhhh... no... handle! There's no flush handle, so you can't flush them!"

"Really?" Wakko stood back, arms folded. Abbi's eyes were darting all over the place, and her hands kept clutching at her sleeves, her jeans, and each other. He could spot a lie when he saw one. But why lie about the toilets?

"Yeah... they smell really bad, too!"

"Well, I'll take my chances." Wakko picked her up and turned around, putting her down behind him. Abbi wasn't to be deterred though, and grabbed hold of his waist. "Abbi! What are you doing?"

"I just want a hug, Dad, that's all..."

"Well, hug later; I need to use the restroom."

"But Dad-"

He managed to prize her off, backing away from her. He turned round and walked towards the men's room, but never got there. At that moment, Todd darted out of the ladies' room, and ran straight into him, falling over. Wakko jumped backwards, and tried to help him up.

Todd looked up at him, and Wakko was stunned. It was like looking into a mirror, except rather than seeing himself now, he was seeing himself years ago... For a moment, he and Todd looked at each other, amazed. Eventually, Todd scrambled to his feet and ran past, to Abbi. Wakko stood, but was too shocked to move. Suddenly, a shout from inside the ladies' room broke the silence.

"TODD, FOR THE LAST TIME-" Dot burst through the door, but came to an abrupt halt as her eyes met her brother's.

For all the years they'd belonged to a stranger, Dot knew them better than anything.

For a brief moment, she thought it wasn't real. It was a dream, it had to be.

She hadn't seen either of her brothers in the better part of a decade, and now... here he was. Standing there, right in front of her, staring at her with wide, shocked eyes. He'd changed over the years, but only physically. She knew. She just knew.

She let out a small gasp and moved her hand to her mouth, as she felt a sob build up inside her. Wakko, meanwhile, was stunned. He looked as though he wanted to speak, but had momentarily forgotten how.

Hesitantly, he stepped towards her. He reached out, and touched her shoulder. Gently, at first, but soon he was resting his whole hand on her shoulder.

Dot tightened her lips, but couldn't hold it in any longer. Her face crumpled into sobs of joy as she threw her arms around him. After a bewildered second, he hugged her back. She sniffed, and managed to regain her composure, but there were still overwhelming emotions bubbling beneath the surface. Wakko started to laugh, and rock from left to right as he hugged her. She started to laugh too, although it was still strangled with the remnants of tears. Eventually, he leaned back enough to look at her.

"My adorable baby sister..." He blinked back his own tears. "I thought I'd lost you, sis."

"Don't be silly." She smiled back, trying not to giggle. "You know I never give up that easily."

"Wow..." Abbi muttered, not tearing her eyes away from the hugging parents. Todd, likewise, nodded slowly.

_Weirdest parents' evening ever._

_"_Hey." Gabby smiled, walking up behind them. "What's going on?" Abbi and Todd pointed to their hugging parents, still a little shocked. Eventually, though, something stirred in the back of Abbi's memory, making her look at Gabby with confusion.

"Where's your Dad?"

"Oh, he went outside to call my mom. And... Oh no! Guys, he'll be here in a minute! I should go and-"

"Forget it." Abbi shrugged, her eyebrows raised in a resigned confusion. "I think we should just sit back and watch what happens. It can't get any weirder."

Abbi's words dragged Wakko back to the present, making him break away from Dot. He looked over at the two kids standing next to her, all bearing a strong resemblance. Slowly, he wiped the tears away from his eyes, and tried to clear the lump from his throat.

"Dot... You haven't introduced me to the kids."

"Well, Todd is mine. What about your two?"

"Two?" Wakko's brow furrowed. "No, only Abbi, in the blue."  
"But then... "Both Dot and Wakko's eyes fell on Gabby, who blushed furiously, before dropping her eyes to the floor and gripping her hands behind her back. She was saved the trouble of speaking, though, as Yakko walked through the main doors, not looking up as he stowed his cell phone away in his pocket.

"Gabby, your mother says "Hi" and "Well done". I know you wanted to talk to her, but-"

He stopped dead, looking up for the first time to see the two toons stood in front of him. Toons he had spent years dreaming about. Dot's eyes grew wide as she saw him, and her jaw physically dropped. Wakko was looking the other way, but when he saw Dot's expression, he turned around. He almost did a double take when he saw Yakko standing, one foot on a lower step, directly in front of him.

Yakko's eyes darted from one to the other, unsure of what to do or say. He had wished for a moment like this for years, prayed for it... now, here he was and he didn't have a clue what to say. Every second they stood there in silence, the atmosphere grew thicker, until it became almost unbearable. Eventually, Dot started to smile, nervously.

"Never thought I'd see you speechless." She and Wakko said, in unison, before blinking at each other in surprise.

Like a pebble breaking the surface of a pond, ripples of laughter spread through the Warner siblings, slowly growing stronger and more confident. Dot rushed towards Yakko and they hugged, her resting her head on his chest and he kissing the top of her head. Wakko grinned, grabbed his brother by the hand, and pulled him towards where he was standing, so all three ended up hugging together. Abbi, Gabby and Todd simply stood back, speechless.

"Aha..." A voice cut in from behind them, as the teachers' lounge door creaked open. Breaking apart from each other, the Warners' expressions changed from confusion to shock and finally to joy as they saw the familiar principal of Acme Elementary, standing in the doorway wearing a black suit and white shirt, and holding an empty coffee mug in one hand and a carrot in another. He looked from the elder Warners to the younger ones, a proud smile playing round his lips. "I knew those kids were familiar... It's obvious once you know the answer, ain't it?"

"Bugs!" Dot grinned, almost jumping for joy. Bugs smiled at her, before standing back and motioning them inside.

"Looks like we got a lot of catching up to do." He smiled as each of the Warners walked past him, into the teachers' lounge. Abbi, Gabby and Todd hesitated in the corridor, unsure of what to do. This was not been part of the plan, nor had it ever been even thought about. Bugs stepped towards them, bent low and grinned.

"I'd get in there quick, if I were you." He whispered, pointing back inside the room. "Something tells me you won't want to miss this..."


	7. Chapter 7

The Warners sat on the overstuffed blue armchairs, gazing with politely masked horror at the grimy, magnolia coloured walls of the teacher's lounge. What a lovely place for a family reunion... The tobacco and coffee stains really added something special...

Abbi, Gabby and Todd slowly walked over to their respective parents, looking from each other, to Bugs, to the walls, and then back to looking around the little group. Bugs walked past them, and pulled up a chair of his own, a comfy looking office chair.

"I'd offer you some coffee, but the pot is busted." He smiled, before crossing his legs and looking from one Warner to the next. "You know, I really am kicking myself for not making the connection sooner. You kids have certainly aged well, I can tell you that much." He leaned back, and began to chew on his carrot, eyes nonchalantly flicking from one face to the next. "Ehhh... Is anyone else gonna talk, or will I have to do it all myself?"

Yakko opened his mouth. It seemed right that he should be the one to talk first... but what could he say? Scratching the back of his neck, he closed his mouth again and sat back, looking at the floor. A thousand half-formed sentences began to tumble through his mind, but he was interrupted by a gentle tugging at his elbow. He looked down to see Gabby.

"Daddy?" She whispered, her brow furrowed in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Yeah." Abbi piped up, clambering into Wakko's lap. She stood, with one foot either side of his lap, so she could look him straight in the eye, and pouted. "We wanna know what's going on!"

Todd nodded enthusiastically, poking his mother's arm.

Wakko cleared his throat, eyes flicking nervously from Yakko to Dot, and then to Bugs. Eventually, he took a deep breath and put his hand on Abbi's shoulder.

"Abbi, this is Yakko, my brother... your uncle... and this is Dot. My sister... your aunt." He gave a small, nervous smile as Abbi looked from one new relative to the other. Dot gave a small, awkward wave, before clearing her throat and picking up on her brother's cue.

"Todd, meet your uncle Yakko and your uncle Wakko."

Yakko looked down at Gabby again, and forced a smile through his shock.

"Say hi to your family, kiddo."

Gabby's brow furrowed again, before she turned and looked around the assembled faces. Eventually, she turned back to her dad.

"So... Abbi and Todd are my cousins?"

"Yup." Yakko nodded, watching her carefully.

"Cool!" Abbi cut in, before climbing off her dad's lap. "Except... how come you never said anything about it?"

All three Warners drew an awkward breath, and slowly raised eyebrows to Bugs for help, making sure not to meet eye contact with each other.

"Oh no." Bugs half laughed, looking up from his carrot. "You got yourselves into this mess... besides; I'm as clueless as the kids." He shrugged, and shot a wink at Abbi, Gabby and Todd, who had grouped together in front of the three Warners, sat on the floor cross-legged, and looked as if they wouldn't budge until they had answers.

"Well..." Yakko spoke, slowly at first, trying hard to control his motor-mouth. "Before any of you kids were born, we all had a big argument and a falling out, and before we could make it better we ended up moving away from each other and couldn't find a way to get in contact and say sorry, so it all kind of spiralled and this is the first time we've seen each other in nearly nine years."

_Damn._ It seemed the motor-mouth had betrayed him again, and so Yakko's gush of words fell into silence, as everyone absorbed the meaning behind them. After a long pause, Wakko chuckled.

"Wow... nearly nine years... dude, you're old!"

"Says you! If I remember right, you'll be hitting the big three-oh next year." Dot quipped, a smirk on her lips. The Warners met each other's eyes, and smiled, slowly looking was a silence again, but this time it felt far more relaxed.

"I'm sorry, sibs." Yakko spoke, his eyes boring into the floor.

"Oh, Yakko..." Dot sighed, but with affection.

"No, this whole mess was my fault. I was in a bad way, and I did a lot of very stupid things... Dot, do you remember that day when we fell out? At TAPA?"

"Yakko, I-"

"Do you?"

Dot paused, before taking a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Do you remember what you said to me?"

"I... no, not exactly..." Dot laughed slightly, if only to make herself feel more comfortable.

"You said I was being a fool; trying to wind you up so I could make believe we were kids again and I had to look after you. Do you remember now?"

Dot nodded. Yakko leant forward and looked at her intently, wanting her to turn her head so he could see her eyes.

"You were right. Everything was slipping away from me; first the job, then you... both of you..."

Dot turned to look at him, and he held her gaze for a moment, speechless again. He tore his eyes away to look at Wakko, who was sitting very still.

"I was... beyond being a jerk. I just... I lost control. For years I'd been the one in charge, and there you guys were, living your own lives, about to leave... And I was struggling to keep my job. I just wanted things back like they used to be... I know it's no excuse, really, but..." He fell silent, leaning back in his chair again and dropping his eyes to the floor. He felt like scum. There was another silence, before Bugs cleared his throat.

"If I may say something? I ask..." He added, rolling his carrot thoughtfully between finger and thumb, "Merely for the sake of polite conversation. You kids know me well enough to know I'm going to tell you what I think anyway. Now."

"It always seemed to me that you kids got along better than any other kids I'd ever met. I was on the lot with you for ten years, more or less, and I don't think I ever once saw you fight. Bickering, yes, petty arguments, but not fights. Now, my theory... and bear in mind this is just a theory," He began to swivel in his chair slightly, taking some of the intensity out of the situation. "Siblings, by way of being siblings, have to fight at some point. It's inevitable. I remember major bust ups with several of my own brothers and sisters... but because you guys were so good for so long, all the energy kind of got pent up, and then just exploded."

"Bugs." Dot smiled, shaking her head slightly. "That's ridiculous."

"Hey, I said it was a theory, didn't I?"

"Well, I think it's silly." Abbi stuck her chin out, turning back to the Warners.

"Sheesh, everyone's a critic..."

"Not you, Mr Bunny. The argument and stuff. I mean, I thought grown-ups were supposed to be all clever and stuff, but to not talk to your own brothers and sisters for that long is just silly. Plus, me, Gabby and Todd could have been playing together every weekend if it hadn't happened."

Wakko raised his eyebrows and smiled. _From the mouths of babes..._

Yakko was still staring at the floor. Standing, he walked over to his brother and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him up to his feet. Looking him in the eye, he grinned.

"Well, I guess they told us, eh, big brother?"

Yakko slowly started to grin, before laughing, and putting his hand on Wakko's shoulder too.

"I guess so, baby brother."

"Ahem." Dot cleared her throat, standing up and raising an eyebrow, pushing in between her brothers. "I hope you aren't forgetting someone."

"We would never!" Yakko grinned, a note of mock incredulity in his voice.

"Not even if we tried." Wakko muttered, earning a slap on the arm from Dot. He laughed, and winked at her. "After all, what are the Warner Brothers without the Warner Sister?"

"Talentless and ugly!" Dot giggled, as she and her brothers started swapping insults and silly faces.

"Enough of this small talk!" Yakko grinned, breaking away from the group and swinging Gabby round into a piggyback. "I say we go and get some celebratory pizza!"

"You know me too well!" Wakko joined in, laughing as Abbi began to bounce excitedly. The Warner Brothers and their offspring left the Teachers Lounge, but Dot hung back for a moment, looking at Bugs.

"How much of this did you honestly have planned?" She smiled wryly, as Bugs stood up quickly.

"I don't know what ya mean, toots." He winked at her, before turning to the teacher's lounge kitchen. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of coffee mugs to wash up before I go home."

Dot smiled at his back, knowing the rabbit had had some hand in the night's events, but she said nothing, and ran out after her brothers, grinning as Todd raced her to catch up with them.

Yakko and Dot smiled at each other as they leant back on the hard red plastic of the pizza restaurant's chairs. Neither of them had eaten in a place like this for years. They remembered the last time they'd come here was Dot's 18th, after being hit with a wave of nostalgia. It had been their favourite restaurant as kids. The yellow walls and white plastic tables hadn't changed, and the discontented teenage workers looked just as surly as ever.

Ah, memories.

Gabby sat to the left of her dad, and Todd to the right of Dot, whilst Wakko and Abbi pulled up chairs from another table and sat on the outside edge. Abbi began reading through the menu, her brow furrowed as she mumbled the words to herself.

"Pep... Pepper..."

"Pepperoni?" Wakko offered. Abbi shot him a glare.

"I was going to say that!"

"Ok, sorry..." Wakko held his hands up and bit back laughter as his daughter continued to plough through the menu. Yakko looked at both his siblings, pride welling in his eyes. He tapped his fingertips on the table, unable to hold back all his questions any more.

"Ok, enough of this, I wanna know what you guys have been doing! I mean I'm an uncle. Twice! And I've never even been to a wedding yet! Who, how, when, where-"

"Yakko!" Dot giggled, caught up in her brother's energetic questions. "One at a time. But I want to know too!"

"Oh, nu-uh!" Wakko shook his head, giving Dot a playful glare raising his eyebrows. "Ladies first, Dot. Exactly how old is the young gentleman sat next to you, bearing in mind you can't be any more than twenty seven."

"I'm twenty six." Dot corrected, blushing. "And Todd's four and a half, if you must know."

"Four? But that means..." Yakko furrowed his brow, looking at her. "You were twenty two when you had him. You must have gone straight from TAPA... oh god... he doesn't have any older siblings, does he?"

"No! Yakko!" Dot laughed in half-shock, shaking her head at Yakko's instinctive protective nature. It was like he'd never been away. "If you must know, I did three years at TAPA, then work experience and started my career, and then I met Graham. We dated for a year, got married..." She trailed off, looking at Todd.

"Graham?" Yakko continued, his eyes narrowed. He vaguely remembered declarations he'd made earlier in their lives, along the lines of _"she'll be locked in her room 'til she's 35, and surrounded by an electric fence..."_ He and Wakko had both been very protective of Dot, especially during her teenage years. It was weird to think of her as a woman now, grown up with her own child, married. Dot was giving him a familiar glare, daring him to ruin the moment. Quickly, he constructed a follow up. "Uh... sounds nice. Graham what?"

"Strizlecki."

The Warner brothers both had to clamp their jaws shut to stop a rather loud laugh from escaping. Unfortunately, it had been to spontaneous to stop, and the laugh morphed into a painful snorting noise. Rubbing their noses gently, Wakko and Yakko continued to giggle.

"Dorothy Angelina Strizlecki." Wakko sounded the name out, a huge grin on his face. "It suits you."

"Oh, grow up." Dot scowled, batting him on the arm, but having to stifle a smile as she did it. "Anyway, what about you and-"

"I know what I want!" Abbi announced, slamming her menu shut with no small amount of pride. "Pepperoni pizza with a triple scoop of ice cream."

"Triple scoop's too much, Abbi." Wakko reprimanded, reminded painfully of the last time he'd let her eat that much sugar. Besides, it was too expensive.

"Aw... but it says on the menu, "This week only, free ice cream with every pizza, all-you-can-eat for groups of four or more." So can I, dad, please?" She batted her eyelashes at him, smiling widely. Wakko tried to hold his ground, but caved, as usual. He rolled his eyes and gave a heavy sigh.

"Fine, go ahead."

"Wow." Yakko laughed, over Abbi's triumphant cheers. "Some things never change."

"Some girls got it..." Dot giggled, patting her hair. Wakko, however, was grinning down at the menu.

"Remember the days when "all-you-can-eat" was a challenge?" Yakko and Dot groaned, rolling their eyes.

"You're still a child inside, aren't you?"

"Nothing wrong with that." Wakko grinned, levelling his big brother with a challenging smile. "Five bucks says I can out-eat you."

"You never could, baby bro, and you never will." Yakko laughed, leaning back in his chair. "You may have done the eating on the show, but if I remember rightly I won every contest we had and I never gained weight."

"Times have changed." Wakko waved the comments aside, resting his hands on the table and leaning forward. The kids giggled quietly as they watched. "You have a different diet, a different lifestyle, and metabolism probably isn't up to much these days, old man."

"Ooh... them's fightin' words." Yakko leaned forward too; his eyes alight with the prospect of a challenge.

"So? Five bucks says I can out eat you, and won't even get a brain freeze."

"Oh, you're on." Yakko grinned, waving over a waitress without taking his eyes off Wakko. Dot just shook her head as everyone placed their orders.

"Boys..." She turned to Abbi and Gabby, who looked slightly confused. "Trust me, they start this way in kindergarten, and they don't get any better."

Todd placed his hands on his hips, pulled a gookie behind his mother's back and giggled as he and his cousins ran off to the play area. He didn't mind, really. He didn't see much wrong with being like his uncles when he was a grown-up. As Abbi dove head-first into the ball pit, and Gabby waded in more carefully, Todd stopped for a second. He wondered if he and his cousins were anything like their parents had been at their age. Looking back over his shoulder as he saw them laughing and talking animatedly, he grinned and dive-bombed into the ball pit, keeping an eye out so he didn't miss the eating contest.

Dot sighed, flicking her brothers' arms.

"Honestly. Does machismo have to ruin every tender moment? I want to hear about you guys! I told you about Graham!" She found herself slipping back into the pout she'd used as a child, whenever she wanted to wheedle information out of them. From the smile in Yakko's eyes, she could tell he'd picked up on it too.

"Wakko?" He grinned, leaning back in his chair. "How about you next? Is Abbi...?"

"Tellulah." Wakko felt himself blushing a little, but it was replaced with a proud grin creeping across his cheeks. He saw Yakko falter a little, and remembered vividly the last time he and Tellulah had spoken. "Don't worry, bro. In a way, you helped. I got up the guts to move in with her officially, and after that..." He smiled again, the scruffy black fur above his forehead falling forward into his eyes.

"Aww..." Dot squeaked, grinning excitedly. "Look at you, all grown up! Talking about your wife... We've gone a whole conversation without a fart joke." Yakko laughed as Wakko pulled a face at Dot, before letting loose a loud belch.

"Dot, you should know better than that!" He laughed, patting her shoulder with one hand as he wiped away tears of laughter with the other.

"Maybe, but the waitresses don't..." Dot giggled as a waitress walked past, giving them a strange look. The Warners bit their lips, trying to suppress fits of giggles. Eventually, they gave up, and let the laughter wash over them, relishing, for the first time in years, the feeling of being totally and completely happy. Eventually, Dot calmed herself enough, and looked at Yakko.

"And what about you? You never seemed the type to settle down that easily."

"Yeah, who did you end up with?" Wakko sat forward, eyes shining. "Anyone we know?"

"Eeeeeehh... yeah." Yakko let out a breath, looking down at the table top, waiting for the awkward moment of revelation.

"Oh, let's guess!" Dot grinned, twisting in her seat to try and find Gabby. "Hmm... Ok, is it someone from the studio?"

"Yeah... look, Dot, I don't think-"

"Ok, who does she look like..." Wakko started joining in, gleeful. "Who had buck teeth? Oh my god, was it Elmyra?"

"What- no, it wasn't Elmyra. Look, you're never gonna guess, so just give it up."

"No way!" Dot stuck her tongue out, before grinning again. "Hmm... her tail's quite fluffy... oh, was it Fifi?"

"No, it wasn't Fifi... Not after what Wakko had told me about her, anyway." Yakko raised an eyebrow as his brother went pink in the cheeks. Dot turned to look at him, mouth open.

"Fifi LeFume? You never told me!"

"It was just a one-time thing." Wakko shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Anyway, back to making Yakko uncomfortable."

Yakko rolled his eyes, before pulling both his siblings back round to face him.

"Alright, I'll tell you, please just... stop guessing. After we stopped talking, I was really lonely, and phoned an old friend. We got talking, both feeling pretty rejected... and one thing led to another. We headed out to Florida, got married, and, well... you know. But... things didn't work out. We divorced a month ago, and I moved back here. That's it." Yakko was pretty sure he'd said it casually enough, but he was aware of a knot in his throat, and when he looked up, Dot had her hands in front of her mouth. Eventually, she lowered her hands to hold his. Maybe he was more emotional than he'd admit.

"Oh Yakko..." She pulled him into a hug, and there was silence for a moment. Wakko cleared his throat.

"Who was it?"

Yakko looked up, slowly dragging his eyes up to his brothers. "Babs."

Dot gasped, and Wakko's eyebrows shot up. Yakko, seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, felt his stomach tensing.

"Oh my god... How could she do that? Oh, I never trusted her." Dot scowled, more to herself. Yakko's tense stomach started to shake, moving up his chest."I knew, even on the lot, I knew she'd be trouble."

"Ah, dude, forget her." Wakko shook his head. "She did the same to Monty and the same to Buster about five times over." Yakko's chest was shaking now, spreading up through his throat. A small giggle escaped his lips, growing into a long, hysterical laugh.

"What's up with you?" Dot raised her eyebrows, as her brother fell, face down on the table.

"You guys..." Yakko gasped, desperately trying to stop laughing long enough to breathe. He couldn't say what it was, but the situation was funny.

_Really, really funny._

Wakko seemed to understand, because soon he started laughing too. Dot shook her head, her eyes closed, but even she was struggling to keep a straight face. At the point when they were all gasping for breath and trying to stop laughing, the waitress that had given them the odd look came back with their pizza, and tokens for free ice cream. Wakko waved his arm in the air, trying to attract Abbi's attention. Eventually she saw him, and the pizza, dive-bombed into the ball-pit and told the others.

As they laughed and joked over the aroma of cheese and pepperoni, all was well. Everything felt so right; there was a natural rhythm between them all, and they just clicked. Eventually, the pizza finished, and Wakko grabbed the ice cream tokens, wiggling eyebrows at his brother.

"You ready for the main event?" he pushed his chair back, as his brother stood.

"You know it."

They were still exchanging quips as they went to get the ice cream, leaving Dot on her own as the kids ran after them, laughing and shrieking. Dot shook her head and sat back. She knew this, like all other eating contests that had come before, would not end well, but she didn't mind. She was full of love and pride and happiness... the kind of pure joy and contentment that she hadn't felt in years.

They stood outside the school gates, three white-gloved fists almost touching.

"One, two, three!" The chant was followed by groans and laughter.

"Scissors beat paper, big brother." Dot grinned, patting Wakko's arm as Yakko let Gabby jump up onto his back. "So you better get ordering a Pizza."

"But I've only just cleaned up after last week..." Wakko whined and pouted at Dot, as Abbi and Todd ran around their ankles playing tag.

"Bull, Tellulah did all the cleaning and we all know it." Yakko grinned, smartly sidestepping as Abbi missed Todd and nearly hit him.

The Warner clan had gained a new routine since their fateful Pizza reunion. Every Friday for a month, they had played rock-paper-scissors to see who was looking after the kids for the weekend. Yakko had come to call it the "family pot luck", a term not as popular with Dot, but Wakko had found it funny. So far, Yakko had escaped a weekend duty, as it had fallen once to Dot and twice to Wakko, meaning that the eldest was getting a few choice glares at the mention of pizza. But he just grinned as Gabby hugged his neck, and they all started walking the short distance to Wakko's place.

"I've got to say, Wakk, you've gone right somewhere." Yakko smiled as he looked up at the two storey semi. It was odd to think that his crazy kid brother was living the suburban life. Well, he reminded himself, Wakko had always been a rebel, and it's so much easier to rebel when surrounded with normality.

Wakko's house was white, mostly, with the odd black board at the front of the house, a big green front lawn and a royal blue front door. Go figure. The house looked like something from a kid's picture book, and Yakko had actually been a little surprised there hadn't been a helter-skelter slide fitted to the side of the building. Wakko rummaged in his pocket for the keys, before managing to open the door just as Abbi and Todd were leaning up against it. The house was immediately filled with their noise, and Gabby was soon squirming to be let down. Yakko put her on the floor, and in return her strawberry pack was thrown at him as she ran off to play with her cousins. Grumbling, Yakko rubbed his stomach and hug Gabby's bag on the coat pegs.

"Wakko, could you warn me before you bring your family home?" Tellulah poked her head round the hallway door, her brow furrowed slightly in a mock frown. For a cat that had travelled most of the states and spent time in Europe, she hadn't lost her accent. "Only I'd like to have a chance to get all the hurricane boards out of the basement first." Wakko gave her a sarcastic grin and a kiss on the cheek. Yakko blushed, still feeling a little awkward.

"Um..."

"Oh, lighten up, Yakko." Tellulah fixed him with her big, green eyes, before taking off one of her oven gloves and hitting his arm with it. "I've forgiven you, Wakko's forgiven you. Can you forgive you?"

"Fat chance." Dot laughed, as she eased past them into the sitting room. "It was five years before he forgave himself for not getting me a cake on my tenth birthday." Dot grinned, as she sat down on the red couch, grinning as Tellulah came to sit next to her. Yakko gave another awkward smile, before joining Dot on the couch.

"Who said I didn't get you one?" He smiled wryly, his eyes glinting. "I was upset you didn't get any, but I never said there wasn't one to start with."

"Yeah, right." Dot shook her head.

"Tenth birthday... was that the strawberry one or the one with chocolate butter cream icing?" Wakko mused, grinning as he caught the cushion that flew across the room.

"Why do I have to spend my Friday evenings looking after six children?" Tellulah sighed, rolled her eyes and walked back to the kitchen. Wakko watched her go.

"Hey, you said you found my childish enthusiasm endearing."

"I've said a lot of things, Wakko. A lot." Tellulah grinned, her eyes shining as she joked before sticking her tongue out at him and going back to the kitchen. Yakko and Dot suppressed giggles as Wakko looked on, dumbstruck. He opened his mouth to retort, but Yakko held his hand up to silence him.

"Quit while you're ahead, Wakko."

Wakko sat back in his seat and pouted, as Dot continued to giggle.

"She's right though, we are being very childish."

"And why not?" Yakko raised an eyebrow, smirking. "We are cartoons, and as such, we grow old, but no one says we have to grow up!" He pinched Dot's waist, and she yelped, squirming away from his tickling fingers.

"Oh!" Wakko jumped up, and ran over to a small cupboard in the wall under the stairs.

"Wakko?" Yakko watched his brother, curious.

"I just remembered, I meant to show you guys last week, but the VCR was in the shop..." The words were muffled as Wakko rummaged around in the small cupboard. Eventually, there was a triumphant "Aha!" followed by a more modest "Ow..." as Wakko both found what he was looking for, and hit his head on the cupboard door. Rubbing gingerly behind his ears, Wakko winced at the confused smiles from his siblings, before yelling up the stairs.

"Kids, get down here, you'll want to see this."

"Wakko?" Dot sounded wary. "What have you got?"

Wakko gave a silent grin, holding a finger to his lips as he crossed to the TV and slipped the tape into the VCR. As Abbi, Gabby and Todd came in, the lines of white fuzz ran over the double-time adverts.

"What are we watching?" Abbi grinned as she sat down on the floor cross-legged. Wakko joined his siblings on the couch, and sat back. As the screen went black, he hit the play button. The video started with a rendition of some incredibly familiar music.

Yakko and Dot erupted into laughter and gasps.

"Oh my god, where did you find this?" Yakko grinned, as the theme music blared through the house.

"Daddy... is that you?" Gabby asked, pointing at the screen. Dot just laughed as Todd sat, open-mouthed.

"Oh God..." Tellulah groaned, coming in from the kitchen. "I was wondering how long it would take. Guess what, Abbi? Your father's been a clown since he was your age."

"Oh, quiet." Wakko tried not to laugh as he looked up at Tellulah's unimpressed features. "I remember someone admitting they had been elected chair of my official fan club at age ten." Wakko grinned as Tellulah blushed, smirked, and joined him on the couch.

"This is your family inheritance, kids." Yakko grinned, his eyes fixed on the screen as they clouded with nostalgia.

"But that doesn't mean you're allowed to imitate any of this without our consent, guidance and permission." Dot tried to regain a stern face.

"Or without our tips on proper mallet control." Wakko muttered, as the quiet giggles subsided with the theme music.

"..._Those are the facts."_

Big news always seems to come in groups. However, as Yakko let himself be lead through an unknown building with his eyes shut, he wasn't aware of how much big news was about to unfold.

"Come on, Dot, just give us a clue..." Wakko laughed, as he bumped into Yakko.

"Oh no, the pair of you can keep your eyes shut." Dot smirked as she watched her brothers stumbling around the lobby. "Todd, go on ahead and knock for us." Todd grinned and nodded, darting into the garden space. When he reached the tree with the blue door, he turned around and watched as his mother lead his uncles slowly into the garden. Abbi and Gabby were supposed to be helping, but they didn't really know what was going on either, so they were playing a silly game of flicking their dads' tails and generally winding them up.

Todd knocked on the door, and heard the crotchety grumbling as Slappy eased the door open.

"Ah, Todd." Slappy looked down at him, surprised but smiling. "I didn't know you were coming over today. Where's yer mom?"

Todd grinned up at her, tipped his hat, and turned back to point down the path. Slappy looked up, and saw two other children, a little older than Todd, running towards them. She raised her eyebrows as Dot rounded the corner. Three kids? Dot was grinning like the cat that had the cream, and Slappy's jaw dropped as she saw why.

Dot lead her two brothers by the hand. Sure, they were taller, older... a little less fuzzy... but you couldn't question those faces. Slappy smirked to herself, gripping the handle on her cane a little tighter. She shuffled slowly to meet them.

"Dot..." Wakko moaned, waving his hand around in an attempt to find Dot. "Can we open our eyes- Abbi, get off!"

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Gabby wouldn't be as annoying."

"Don't count on it." Yakko smirked, as his ears perked up. He heard a shuffling, someone clearing their throat.

"Ok... open your eyes." Dot grinned, as Wakko and Yakko blinked, their eyes adjusting to the light.

"Well, well. Ten years since I last seen you boys, and I bet you still won't pay me back that sixteen fifty I gave you for gas." Slappy let her smirk grow as the Warner Brothers finally felt the dawn of realisation.

"Slappy!" Yakko laughed; a small part of him amazed that the squirrel was still alive.

"What, no hug?" Slappy chortled, and both Yakko and Wakko rushed forward to hug their old friend. "Well, come inside, you can help me with the plans."

"Plans?" Wakko asked, looking around as they entered the old tree.

"For the fifteenth." Slappy looked around, rolling her eyes as it became obvious the date meant nothing to them. "Well, it's nice to know I'm appreciated. Wakko, you still with Tellulah?"

"Um... yeah. We-"

"What day did you two meet?"

"Well you should know." Wakko laughed, eyebrows raised. "It was February fifteenth, at your... oh..."

"Welcome to the conversation." Slappy shook her head, lowering herself into her armchair.

"Your birthday." Yakko finished, catching on. Todd leant over the arm of Slappy's chair, grinning at her. Abbi followed, but Gabby stood behind Yakko's legs, more cautious.

"So, who's who? You look like a respectable scruff-bag." Slappy nodded at Abbi, who stuck her chin out.

"I'm Abbi. Who are you?"

"Abbi." Wakko tried to be a disciplinary parent, but Slappy waved him aside.

"Nah, the kid's got a point. I'm Slappy; I used to work with your parents."

"Were you on TV?" Gabby smiled, slowly growing braver.

"Ah, so they've told you about the show, huh? Well, Todd knows a lot about my cartoons, don't you, buddy?"

Todd grinned and nodded. He liked Slappy. She was funny, and was one of the only adults that didn't act like it was a big deal that he didn't talk. He grinned even wider as Slappy reached over the side of her chair and rummaged in her bag, removing one of her videos.

"You set your eyes on that, you'll see." She smiled proudly, giving the video to Todd. "I got years more experience than your parents, that's for sure."

Abbi, Gabby and Todd sat down obediently and watched the grainy old film. Slappy grinned as the three kids started to smile, before looking at their parents.

"Well sit down; you're making the place look messy."

Yakko, Wakko and Dot sat down with the same obedience as their children, each aware that no matter how old they were, Slappy would always be able to have some control over them.

"So, you kids are all back together again. I knew you wouldn't stay mad. How long was it?"

"Eight years. Nearly nine." Yakko ducked his head, bashful.

"Really... I guess I owe Skippy five bucks..."

"What?"  
"Eh? Don't mumble, Dot, it ain't becoming." Slappy cleared her throat, shooting a wink at Wakko. "So, since you're all friendly again, I don't suppose you'd help an ol' lady out?"

"Depends what you had in mind." Yakko raised an eyebrow, smirking. "I remember the last time I helped you out without checking first. I was watching strawberry punch out of my hair for a week."

"I don't know what you mean. I'm old, my memory's bad."

"Then you won't want that fifteen dollars back?" Yakko smirked, as Slappy grinned at him.

"It was sixteen fifty, and with interest I expect twenty. At least." She shook her head. "Anyway, quit distractin' me. I'm gonna be ninety years young this year and I'm planning a big party."

"Ninety? Gosh-"

"None of that, Dot." Slappy waved Dot's exclamations away. "I'm still old enough to take care of myself, and I can't see that finishing any time soon. Now, I was planning on inviting a load of my friends from here in the home, and everyone I can round up from the set."

"The old Animaniacs crew?" Wakko gasped. "Sounds cool. You want us to hand out invites?"

"Nah, Skippy's an agent these days; he's got the inside track." Slappy sounded matter-of-fact, but all the Warners picked up on the slightly bitter tone on the word "agent". Slappy had never been fond of agents, and had been in quite nasty arguments with most of the ones she had hired, even deciding to represent various other cast members herself. It was something to do with taking money, or a bad experience with her own agent long ago. No one was sure. No one dared ask.

"Nah, I was wondering..." Slappy was momentarily distracted as the kids burst out laughing. She looked at the screen, smiling nostalgically as a young Slappy showcased her award-winning dynamite production skills.

"You keep practicing, kids, one day you can do that too."

She smiled, partly at the cheers from the kids, partly at the grimaces from the Warners.

"Anyway. You guys really would be saving my bacon."

"What, Slappy?" Wakko sat forward, smiling.

"D'you reckon you guys could provide some entertainment? I mean... I know you guys ain't sung together or anything like that since before madam here went off to college, but it would mean a lot to me."

"Aww, Slappy!" Dot giggled. "Are you getting sentimental?"

"Not at all, I just want someone who I can call a friend and who'll do the gig for free."

Slappy grinned, and the Warners turned to each other. Yakko looked a little wary, but Dot seemed more open-minded.

"What do you think?"

"Would be cool. I say it's time for a reunion gig." Wakko grinned.

Yakko looked from one sibling to the other, and a slow smile grew across his face.

"Alright then. We'll do a few songs, dances, maybe a couple of skits." Yakko nodded, grinning. Slappy smiled, seeming a little relieved.

"Hey, maybe the kids could get involved."

"Yeah!" Grinned Abbi, twisting around. Todd rolled over onto his back and stuck his thumbs up in the air. Gabby, however, seemed to shrink back from the circle they had formed. Yakko noticed this, and their eyes met. Gabby looked up at him, trying hard to say with her eyes how much she disliked the idea of performing anything.

"Well..." He said, smiling reassuringly. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Three days later, Yakko was sat at the piano, staring at the blank sheet of paper and close to bashing his head on the keys. Why had he agreed to this?

Writing Slappy a birthday song in two weeks. In itself, it wasn't a task, but the fact that the three Warners had somehow come up with the idea of making a compilation of Slappy's favourite songs through the years, with a song or two from each decade made the task trickier than it needed to be. Dot was writing a few sections of speech and insight, featuring historical events and important events in Slappy's life.

Biting his lip, Yakko looked at the sheets of music he had so far scribbled upon.

_1919 to 1929. Slappy was born to one of the first 'Toons ever created._

Her mother, who had taken a shine to managerial work rather than performing, encouraged Slappy's musical, madcap talents and introduced her to the world of Vaudeville. Yakko had chosen "Look Out for Mr Stork" from Dumbo, which was supposed to melt into "The Entertainer". He and Wakko would sound good on the vocals, but transitions were more difficult than he'd thought.

_Ok, next decade..._

_1930 to 1939. Slappy was one of the many entertainers who provided relief from the Great Depression by putting on charity shows._

Slappy also beat both Chico and Harpo Marx at poker. This was one of her favourite stories, and one of Slappy's more legendary exploits, so it made sense to reference it. Yakko had momentarily filled in with "The Lady is a Tramp", as one of the most popular songs of the decade, but he wasn't sure if it was a little inappropriate.

_1940 to 1949; Slappy as a part of the war effort. Hmm..._

Dare he mention her first marriage to Sam? Sam, cousin to Screwball Squirrel, who had cheated on her while she toured to raise morale for American troops and who, despite his roguish behaviour, had been the love of Slappy's life? He put a couple of bars in brackets, ready to cut after some outside consultation. Meaning "We'll meet again" could be cut, but he had cheekily snuck in a few bars of "On the Home-front We're Marching Along", so there was a little comedy.

_1950..._ blank. No ideas at all. Except for Sam's death; he had been killed when he'd fallen under a train. Perhaps not the best subject for birthday talks.

Yakko rested his head on the keys, groaning as the piano made a jarring, mournful noise.

"Inspiration has died."

"Aww, daddy." Gabby entered the room, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You want some juice? Our teacher says that having juice breaks make your brain work better."

"I think I need something stronger than juice..." He muttered, smiling as he sat up and hugged Gabby. "You been doing your homework?"

"Mhmm." Gabby nodded, smiling. "All done."

"Sounds like lunchtime to me." Yakko grinned, and he and Gabby made their way to the kitchen. Yakko had just started looking through the fridge to find some food, but was interrupted by the angry buzz of the doorbell. He rolled his eyes, and made his way to the door, still holding on to a loaf of bread. Gabby followed, trying to take a slice from the bag while Yakko was walking.

"Gabby, get out of there!" he laughed, but she just grinned at him and started tearing small chunks off the slice and stuffing them into her mouth. Yakko shook his head, and opened the door.

"Sorry- Gabby, get a plate... can I help... you..." Yakko trailed off, as he saw exactly who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Hey, Yakk."

Her shoulders tensed, her fingers plucking awkwardly at the sleeve of her yellow cardigan. She stood there, smiling awkwardly as she met Yakko's shocked stare.

"Babs..."

If her fur wasn't already pink, Yakko had a feeling she'd be blushing.

_Well, good. She should feel awkward, dammit._

He cleared his throat, trying not to relish in how uncomfortable she looked, and also suddenly very conscious of how much he'd missed her...

_No, Yakko! Bad Yakko! You know you haven't really missed her! Don't do anything stupid. Goddamn, what did I do, leave my common sense at the piano?_

"Uh... hey, Babs. What... what are you doing here?"

"Slappy invited me to her party, I thought I'd use my vacation to come up and... see my number one girl..." Babs waved to Gabby, who had chosen that moment to look round Yakko's legs.

"Mom!" Gabby squeaked, hugging her. Babs picked Gabby up, and raised an eyebrow at Yakko.

"So... can I come in?"

"Uh, sure, yeah." Yakko stood aside, still trying to recuperate from the shock. "Here, come through to the... living room, through here... yeah... We were just about to have lunch... do you want any?"

"Um... I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee."

"Coffee it is." Yakko forced a smile and retreated to the kitchen. How could she look him in the eye like that? How could she turn up like that, unannounced and expecting to be accommodated?

_Of course she can turn up unexpected._ Yakko's common sense interjected._ She's Gabby's mother. You were the one who wanted it to stay amicable._

Yakko wanted to listen to his common sense, but he also wanted to be angry. Dammit, didn't he deserve to be a little angry? One and a half months after the end of eight years of a marriage that could only be described as bipolar, and she returns and expects coffee... which he only then realised he had been slowly filling a mug with. Pouring some of the coffee back in the jar, he was aware of Gabby giving her mother a blow-by-blow account of the past 2 months.

"Sounds like you're having a lot of fun here with daddy." Babs spoke, and Yakko could hear from her voice she was smiling.

"Well it's not just daddy. It's Daddy and Uncle Wakko and Aunty Dot and Abbi and Todd and Mrs Slappy and sometimes Mr Bunny comes over because he's the principal at school but he's also Daddy's friend and-"

"Easy, Gabby." Yakko laughed nervously, carrying two mugs of coffee and a plastic beaker full of orange juice on a tray. "Your mother's had a long trip, let her rest a little."

"No, it's fine." Babs smiled. "I'd love to hear more. Why don't you get some of your school books so you can show me what you've been doing?"

"Ok." Gabby smiled, hugging Babs and planting a clumsy kiss on her cheek, before hugging Yakko and whispering, "Don't start arguing again, Daddy."

"I know. I won't, just for you." He smiled, hugging her tight. Yakko watched her go, before sitting back on the couch. "So... Where's Buster?"

"Oh, he's coming up next week." Babs nodded, before they both lapsed into silence.

"How's Florida?"

"It's... nice."

"Sunny?"

"Yeah."

There was another long pause. Yakko didn't deal with long silences very well.

"That's good. Weather's been mad up here, stormy and rainy one minute, sunshine the next. I mean at first, I thought it was just Toon Town weather, you know they say that the weather here matches up with average emotions and stuff, but no one's ever proved it so-"

"Oh cut it, Yakko." Babs held a hand to her temples, before fixing him with a stern look. Yakko bit his lip and nodded. Small talk wasn't helping.

"Babs. Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see Gabby before Slappy's party." Babs suddenly looked away, her lips tensing.

"And that's all?" Yakko raised an eyebrow, as Babs tapped her toes. "Babs?"

"Yakk, I'm worried. I mean, what if we ended this too soon? Buster..."

"Stop, nu-uh, stop right there." Yakko stood up, running his hands through his hair, before looking back at her, eyes wide and incredulous. "Is this some sick joke? Babs, we had nearly nine years of the most pathetic, co-dependent... It was a sham, Babs. You and I both know that, I think we always knew that."

"Yakko, I still love you."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"Oh for God's sake, Babs!" Yakk bit his lip, taking a deep breath. He wasn't going to do this. Not again. No, for once, he was going to sit in the same room as the mother of his child and not end up screaming at her or insulting her.

"Babs, you don't love me." Yakko looked at her, forcing a calmer tone into his voice. "You just don't want to risk another failure with Buster. Am I right?"

"I..." Babs looked away, before throwing her weight backwards on the couch, and putting her hands over her eyes. "I know. I know! What's wrong with me, Yakko?"

"You want security." Yakko sighed, sitting down beside her. "You want someone to keep things the same for you; someone who you know will be timed and scheduled. I know you want that, because that's what I want, too."

Babs gave a derisive sigh, putting her hands to her temples again.

"We're two peas, huh?"

"We were." Yakko nodded. "You wanted someone who would be dependable and reliant. And I wanted someone to take charge because I couldn't look after myself. We were..."

"Back-ups." Babs finished, looking over at him. "Convenient safety blankets."

"Yeah." Yakko smiled, looking at her.

It was weird.

There was warmth there, when he stopped being mad at her. Not affection, not attraction, just... warmth. But he knew he wouldn't be able to put up with her for long. She'd say something he'd disagree with (either because of opinion or principle), they'd argue, she'd cry, Gabby would cry... unhappiness all over. But she'd just driven up from Florida; he couldn't just turf her out...

There was a heavy clunk as the front door opened and closed.

"Yakko!"

Never let it be said that Dot had less than impeccable timing.

"Dot!" Yakko leapt up, grinning. "In the living room."

"Yakko, I had the best idea for Slappy's song, why don't we have- Babs!"

Dot stopped short, looking at Babs as though it would have made more sense for there to have been a giant purple elephant at the piano.

"Dot, hey!" Babs smiled, walking forward for an awkward hug. Dot raised her eyebrows at Yakko over Babs' shoulder. Yakko shrugged, grinned, and held a finger to his lips.

"Hey, you know what, why don't you two go out and have a day on the town? So you can... catch up."

"What?" Dot cut her eyes at Yakko, looking less than happy.

"Yeah, take Gabby with you." Yakko grinned, walking up to them and putting a hand on each toon's shoulder. "Hey, pick up Tellulah and Abbi, have a girls' day." He grinned, but looked at Dot, pleading. Eventually, her expression softened.

"Sure, sounds like fun. Babs, why don't you go get Gabby ready?" Dot smiled, as Babs ran off to find Gabby. Yakko smiled thankfully, but Dot just shook her head, and pointed an only-half-serious finger at his nose.

"You owe me, Yakko."

Across town, Wakko tapped half heartedly at a calculator, pouring over a sheaf of papers. He tapped an old blue biro against his lip, before choking and rushing to the sink as it leaked on his tongue.

"Gah..." He muttered, holding his head under the kitchen tap. Spitting and spluttering, he then banged his head as Tellulah walked in behind him, making him jump.

"Wakko?"

"Ouch!"

"Oh, Wakko..." Tellulah rushed over to help him, but narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Eating ink, what does it look like? I was re-checking the accounts." He muttered, grabbing some paper kitchen towel and trying to rub the ink from his lip. "Like you asked. And my biro exploded."

"Oh..." Tellulah looked apprehensively at the messy papers. "Going well?"

"Accounts math is in a world of its own." Wakko grumbled, sitting down at the table and running a hand through his hair. Tellulah smiled, rubbing his shoulders.

"Aww... How about some coffee?"

"Heavenly." Wakko smiled, kissing her hand. Tellulah smiled again, and started to make the coffee.

"You know, Wakko, I think we really need to sit down and talk." Tellulah's tone was bright and breathy, but seemed to be a little artificial. She kept fumbling and almost dropping the spoon she was using for the coffee.

"Everything ok, Lu?" Wakko looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Um... That depends." She gave a nervous laugh, before cautiously meeting his eye contact. "I..." Tellulah began, but was cut off by a knock on the door. "I'll go get that." She finished, leaving the kitchen quickly. Wakko watched her, completely puzzled. Women. Crazy.

"Wakko, come out here!" Tellulah called, and he followed the sound of her voice. At door, he saw Dot standing awkwardly next to a strangely familiar face.

"Babs!" Wakko forced a smile onto his face, resisting the urge to add "what the hell are you doing here?" Instead, he smiled politely. "Long time, no see..."

"I came up for Slappy's party." Babs grinned, looking a little bashful. Wakko felt a little smug in the hopes that she would be diminished. He knew he shouldn't blame her for Yakko being unhappy, but it was easy to do. "And Yakko suggested all us girls go for a day out."

"So we came to steal Tellulah and Abbi away from you." Dot cut in, fixing Tellulah with a look that read "please don't leave me alone with this rabbit." Tellulah looked around, unsure.

"Uh, sure... I'll just go get Abbi... Wakk, we'll talk later, 'kay?" She smiled, again nervously. What was going on with her? Wakko tried to look reassuring as he kissed her cheek, and grabbed his coat and keys from the rack.

"Tell you what, I may as well go see Yakko, figure out the basic musical number he's no doubt over-complicated by now." Wakko smiled, and Dot grinned at him.

"You still think you could sing "Three Little Maids From School"?"

"Not without seriously injuring myself." He grinned, kissing Dot on the cheek, and giving Babs an awkward hug. It's weird enough thinking one of your childhood friends had gone off with your brother, but the fact that she'd also left him made the situation more bizarre. He hugged Abbi as she came running downstairs, zipping up the old hoody that used to be his.

"Pick Todd up." Dot advised. "You guys can all spend some time together, it'll be nice."

"Yeah, we'll be great male role models." Wakko grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "Between me teaching him to belch "Rigolero" and Yakko teaching him how to flirt with the girl who serves at the Krispy Kreme in the food court, I mean..."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine." Dot rolled her eyes. "Some of Todd's good influence may rub off..."


	8. Chapter 8

Todd kneeled in front of the coffee table, delicately running his fingers along the edge of the decorated shoebox. It was wrapped in floral wrapping paper, with sequins and bits of tissue paper stuck to it. A small piece of lined paper which had been scotch-taped to the lid read "Dot's private stuff, keep out on pain of death".

Todd carefully removed the lid. He looked inside at the scrapbooks and photos that filled it, as well as pieces of paper covered in various handwriting styles. He grinned, and replaced the lid.

Dot had found the box while cleaning out her bedroom, and shown Todd how it was full of photos and letters and other sentimental things from her childhood. She'd said they'd look through it, the next time all the Warners were together. Todd was thrilled.

He couldn't help himself from peeking inside the box, even though he knew none of the pictures would mean anything to him without the aid of an adult. He just sat looking at the somewhat battered blue shoebox, with it's twisting vines of pink flowers, and grinned.

"Out of the way, freak." Max spat, bumping Todd in the back with his knee.

Todd just glared. He hated Max so much. Especially now his dad was hardly ever around to tell him off; without the constant adult supervision, his half brother had gotten cockier and, if it was possible, more stupid.

"What's in the box?" Max grabbed at the box, but Todd was quick to pull it away. He could see the grease and stains on Max's gloves and didn't want them messing up the box. Max growled.

"What's in the box, freak?"

Todd stood up and walked away, clutching the box to his chest. He thought about going upstairs to his dad's room, but his dad was asleep after a long haul flight from New York and probably wouldn't want to be disturbed. Todd yelped as Max's shoe cut through his thoughts, bouncing off the back of his head. Todd sniffed, but calmly reached down and picked up his hat, struggling with the heavy box.

"Loser." Max spat, before throwing a cushion at him. Todd scowled, but walked away.

"Hey loser, I'm talking to you." Max ran in front of Todd, blocking most escape routes with his prepubescent girth. Todd wrinkled his nose as a combination of at least three junk food types mingled in the air Max exhaled onto him.

Max grabbed Todd's collar and lifted him up to eye level, his feet now dangling in mid-air.

"What's in the box?"

Todd gulped, assessed the pros and cons of his situation, and made a snap decision. He adjusted his gloved grip on the box, before swinging his arms round to smack Max across the face with the heavy cardboard container. When he was dropped, Todd fell on his feet and made a dash to the staircase, planning to run upstairs and lock himself in the bathroom.

Max was hot on his tail, though... literally, it seemed. Todd yelped in pain as the big bully grabbed his tail and started pulling him back down to face him. Max rolled up both sleeves as he scowled at Todd, the movement recognised by international sign language as "You're going to get it now".

Todd's eyes flicked desperately around the room, looking for some sort of escape or diversion. None... other than... Clutching hold of the box, he ducked between Max's legs, and made for the front door. No way was he letting Max get his grubby, cheet-o stained paws on Dot's memories, on his own past...

Todd leapt at the handle and pulled open the door, and had to duck out the way as Wakko almost fell forward, the hard surface he was about to knock on having been suddenly removed. Todd grinned up at him, and quickly ducked behind his uncle's legs as Max screeched to a halt.

"Uh... hey, Max... Your dad about?"

"He's asleep... Wakko." Max refused to refer to Wakko and Yakko as his uncles. Fair enough, thought Todd. He hated all of Max's family just as much, which was a shame because they seemed to love him. He didn't like the way everyone on his Dad's side of the family acted around his mother, and he didn't like the way his dad acted when he was around his family. He would always talk like he was angry, saying something about "tests" and how "special" he felt Todd was. Todd didn't really get it, but most of the time he wasn't supposed to be listening.

"Cool. Well I was gonna take Todd for a day out... You wanna come with?"

_No... No... Please say no..._

"No it's ok." Max beamed his masterfully innocent smile. "Dad'll be up soon. I think I'll just watch TV 'til then."

"If you're sure..." Wakko started to close the door, giving Max a suspicious look. "Bye, Max..."

He backed out and closed the door, before turning to Todd.

"I don't like that kid." He took out his cell phone and started texting, before reaching out for Todd's hand and walking down the path.

"I've sent your dad a text saying what's going on. Your mum's gone off with the girls to have a girly day, so you and me are going over to your uncle Yakko's to annoy him." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, sticking his tongue out. Todd smiled and struggled with the shoebox, trying to adjust his hat. Wakko reached down and took the box off him.

"What's in here then?"

Todd just smiled and tapped the side of his nose.

Dot massaged her temples, sighing as Babs put down a Styrofoam mug of coffee in front of her.

"Milk, one sugar, right?"

"Lifesaver." Dot muttered, drinking gratefully from the cup. As much as she had been determined to dislike Babs as a token of loyalty to Yakko, she was having quite a nice time.

Abbi and Gabby had been happy to go shopping, but Abbi refused to try on clothes or shoes as it was "too girly", and neither of the girls wanted to sit still long enough for her, Tellulah or Babs to do any shopping, so now Dot and Babs were at the Starbucks in the food court, while Tellulah was making sure Abbi and Gabby stayed in the nearby play area and didn't wander off. Not that there was much need to lecture them; both girls knew better than to run off, and even as they spoke, both Babs and Dot had one eye trained on the play area. It is the sort of skill only a mother can master.

"Well... we got some browsing done, if nothing else." Dot chuckled appreciatively as Babs slipped into the seat opposite her, sipping at her own coffee. She waved to Tellulah, before pointing at the cappuccino saved for her.

"Dot? I know we haven't spoken much since the TAPA days..."

_Oh god. Here comes the conversation that you've been dreading all day..._

"Are you mad at me about Yakko?"

Dot sighed. She had tried, but she still wasn't prepared.

"I don't know... Yes? No? Maybe? I'm..." She gestured vaguely, and Babs gestured vaguely back, complete with the most sarcastic eyebrow raise Dot had ever seen.

"You're what? Come on, Dot, we used to be friends."

"I don't know! I'm... I'm not... Mad. Not really. Shocked, I guess. Guilty, a little. Sad that it didn't work out, but at the same time relieved that you both knew to end it. Overall... confused."

"Well, you and me both." Babs smiled wearily, before staring into the distance. "I was in love with him. I was madly in love with him. He was what kept me going. But... I guess I fell out of love with him. Or I realised the difference between being in love with someone and actually loving them. Does that make sense?"

Dot gave her a grim smile. "Unfortunately, I think it does."

"Does what?" Tellulah sat down, still watching the girls in the play area.

"Nothing." Dot breezed, scratching her cheek. "Just... relationship talk."

"Dot?" Babs probed, giving her the patent stare. Dot cringed inwardly. Babs had taken a sort of older sister role back on the set, adopting a killer move she had studied from Slappy. The stare was something Dot had always found it hard to argue against, even with her own cutie-pout. "Dot, is everything ok? Are you and Graham...?"

Dot sighed, but knew she wouldn't be able to stand under the inquisitive looks of both the Warner in-laws. She stared at the coffee cup instead, looking very hard at the logo as though it held the secrets of the universe.

"Graham and I are... going through a rough patch." She stared hard at her coffee cup, aware of an uncomfortable heat growing in her cheeks. "He's spending more and more time obsessing over his plays and no matter how many times I talk to him about it, he doesn't seem to understand. I'm starting to think I'm no longer his top priority."

She tried to laugh, but it choked in her throat.

"And I know Max hates me, and his family are all horrible to me but he doesn't notice, and whenever I try and tell him any of this, I end up feeling like I'm the unreasonable one. I mean, that's not the guy I married. That's not the guy who gave me candle-light dinners and took me dancing. I just..." She sniffed and bit her lip, trying hard to hold back the tears that were springing into her eyes.

Babs and Tellulah both cooed affectionately, Tellulah shuffling closer and wrapping her arms around her, Babs getting her serviettes to wipe her eyes on. Dot flapped them away, sniffing and regaining herself.

"No, I'm fine. Forget it."

"Yah, right." Babs looked at her, incredulous. "You shouldn't be bottling this stuff up. That's what made your brother go cra... um... never mind." Babs grimaced as she realised she had yet again put her foot in it. Dot smiled.

"Yakko was crazy long before I was even born."

"So... Tellulah!" Babs grinned, eager to change the subject. "Anything new with you?" Tellulah turned pink underneath her grey fur, and bit her lip. It was her turn to look at the table. She laughed nervously.

"Umm... yeah, actually. I kind of have some news I need to tell Wakko..."

"Big news?" Babs grinned, sensing a juicy story.

"Good news?" Dot raised her eyebrows, praying for a happier twist to their conversation.

"Pretty big." Tellulah laughed again, looking a little uncomfortable.

"But good?"

"Depends..."

"Tellulah." Dot and Babs could see from her nervous smile that she was holding out some secret. "What's going on?"

"Ok..." Tellulah looked from one to the other. "But you can't tell anyone. Promise?" Babs and Dot nodded obediently, and leant in closer. "Well..."

_"There are fifty thousand different kinds of animals!"_

Yakko managed to sing, before breaking down laughing as Wakko pulled a kazoo from his box of props. Yakko tried to play through the song, but knowing his brother had found the box of sound effects meant that it would be an unpredictable performance. Todd grinned from behind Wakko, his nose poking over the lid of the effects box. Yakko shook his head, laughing, before taking a deep breath.

"Ok, go again."

Wakko winked at Todd.

"I feel like a mad scientist. Ok, Yakk, when you're ready."

"Why are we even doing this?"

"It was your idea to bring out the box."

"And thus seal my own death warrant..." Yakko sighed, gently playing the funeral march, but stopping to flinch as Wakko threw the kazoo at him. Todd ran to pick it up, and gave it back to Wakko.

"Right then." Yakko began over, the upbeat chords of "There's Only One of You".

_"There are fifty thousand different kinds of animals," _

Kazoo,

_"And there are fifty thousand more that used to be," _

Cow bell,

_"There's a hundred million ants and a half a billion plants and a lot of fish down underneath the sea," _

Whoopee cushion. Yakko broke down in giggles again.

"You're useless." Wakko shook his head, giggling himself. "You've lost it."

"I know!" Yakko shook his head, wiping tears from his eyes. "I never used to corpse back on the set."

"You're old." Wakko grinned, sitting on the couch. "Out of practice... not used to having to keep a straight face."

"True." Yakko chuckled, closing the lid on the piano. "Ok, so what now?"

"Coffee?"

"God, yes. Todd, you want a drink?"

Todd nodded, plucked some imaginary item from the air and placed it on his hand, before bringing his other hand down on top of it with a resounding clap, and a look of great concentration.

"Fruit squash!" Wakko grinned, giving Todd thumbs up. Todd nodded enthusiastically.

"Ugh. Two relatives fluent in mime." Yakko shook his head, walking through to the kitchen. Wakko followed him, ruffling Todd's hair as he left. Todd reached under the coffee table, took out Dot's shoe box, and put it on the couch, opening up the lid. He hoped Yakko and Wakko would have some stories about the stuff inside.

In the kitchen, Yakko started making the coffee. Wakko looked over his shoulder, and spoke quietly.

"So... Babs really has timing, huh?"

"I know." Yakko rolled his eyes, and turned to face his brother. "Apparently, she's in town for Slappy's party."

"Buster?"

"Coming up next week."

"Wow, so they'll both be there for your first public performance in about ten years. Awkward."

"A little." Yakko raised an eyebrow, busying himself with Todd's fruit squash. "I'm worried about Gabby, though."

"Why?"

"Oh come on." Yakko looked at him, incredulous. "We can hardly be in the same room five minutes without arguing. What if Gabby starts thinking..."

"What? That you're getting back together?" Wakko shook his head. "Come on, she's a smart kid..."

"She's a seven year old girl, there's no limit to what her mind can create. Remember when Dot had her imaginary kangaroo? And she made us act like it was real for so long we started to believe it ourselves?"

"True. But this is different."

"We'll see." Yakko muttered, and finished making the drinks. They lapsed into silence as Yakko handed his brother his coffee.

"So," Yakko gave an apologetic smile after a long draught from his coffee. "What about you?"

"Fine." Wakko shrugged. "Abbi now wants to take tap classes thanks to Dot and her Gene Kelley films."

"And Tellulah?"

"Fine. Well..." Wakko pulled a face. "She's been acting a little odd lately."

"Like how?"

"Just... odd. It's probably just girl stuff, which I always have and always will refuse to understand."

"Wise choice. Come on." Yakko motioned to go back to the living room, where they found Todd kneeling on the couch next to a battered old shoe box. Yakko put the glass of fruit squash down next to Todd, and peeked inside the box.

"No way!" He grinned, "Where did you get this stuff?"

Todd grinned, and tapped the name scrawled on the lid in red marker pen.

"Dot Warner's Special Stuff." Wakko read, grinning. "Stay out."

"Ehh, we never listened to her before." Yakko smiled, reaching into the box and taking out the large photo album that took up most of the space. He sat down on the couch and laid the book on his lap, and Todd climbed up next to him, looking around his elbow. Wakko sat down next to his brother, looking through the old photos.

"Wow..." Dot raised her eyebrows.

"You have to tell him." Babs stated.

"I know," Tellulah said, tapping her coffee cup with her thumbs. "I will."

"Not `will`, _now_!" Babs demanded, and Dot nodded.

"She's right. Come on!" Dot stood up, grabbing her handbag. "We'll get the kids in the car and go over to Yakko's. They should all be there."  
"What "now" like, right now?" Tellulah blanched. "I don't know if I..."

"You can, you should, you must, you will." Babs poked her in the back, getting her to stand up. Dot had already rushed over to the play area to retrieve the girls, and so they made their way back to the car. Dot gave Tellulah a reassuring smile as she slipped into the driver's seat, noticing how tightly she was gripping her handbag.

"You'll be fine, 'Lu."

She smiled back, but was clearly still nervous.

"I'll have to be."


	9. Chapter 9

Tellulah took a deep, juddering breath, and gazed at Yakko's front door like it held all the mysteries of the world behind it. Never had a rectangle of black wood been so intimidating. She closed her eyes, before knocking on the wood, her white gloved knuckles creating a much smarter and stronger sound than she felt capable of. She tugged the corner of her flannel shirt nervously, straightening it over her stomach.

"We're here, Lu." Dot smiled reassuringly, as Babs laid a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be beside you." The three of them smiled at each other, before knocking again. After an agonising pause, Yakko came to the door, grinning broadly.

"Hey, come in." He smiled, stepping aside as Gabby hugged his legs. "You're just in time."

"For what?" Abbi sniffed, getting annoyed that her mother had refused to tell her what they were whispering about.

"For you kids, an education." Yakko smiled, ruffling her hair and stepping aside to let everyone through. "And for us adults, a stroll down memory lane."

"Oh, did Todd bring the box?" Dot smiled, walking inside with everyone else.

"What box?" Abbi sniffed, already impatient. There had been a lot of hushed voices and meaningful looks going (literally) right over her head.

"The other day..." Dot grinned, taking Abbi's hand and walking through to the living room, "I found a big box of photos from when me and your uncles and your aunt Babs were all on the set together."

"You didn't?" Babs laughed, following through to the living room. "Hey, Wakko."

"Hey." Wakko looked up briefly from the photos, pouring over one of the old albums, with Todd on his lap. "Dot, this stuff is amazing. I'd forgotten half of this..."

Todd climbed off of his uncles' lap, running over to give his mother a hug, before looking up at the pink rabbit toon he had not yet been introduced to.

"You must be Todd." She smiled. "Your mum's told me a lot about you."

Todd batted his eyes in an exaggerated pose of innocence, before grabbing Abbi's hand and pulling her over to look at the albums. Yakko followed with Gabby, but Tellulah stood in the doorway, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, looking unsure. Babs and Dot exchanged glances, before Dot took the photo album from Wakko.

"Hey, 'Lu why don't you get us some drinks and we can all look through these together?"

"Yeah." Babs gave her best innocent smile, which everyone present knew she only used when she was covering up the truth. "Wakko, why don't you go help her?"

"No, sit down, 'Lu." Yakko started. "I'm the host, I should..."

"No, it's fine." Tellulah cut in, looking at Wakko with nervous eyes. "Wak, can you come in the kitchen, please?"

"Uh... sure..." Wakko looked at his brother and they exchanged nonplussed shrugs as he left the room, under excited giggles and whispers from Dot and Babs. When he entered the kitchen, Tellulah was running her hands through her long, black hair, and moving around as though she wasn't sure where to stop, pausing occasionally, looking uncomfortable, and then moving again.

Wakko watched her fidget, raising an eyebrow, and leant against the counter, suspecting something was up. He may not be quick off the draw, but as Tellulah looked into those happy, puzzled eyes, she was suddenly reminded very strongly of why she fell in love with him. He plucked an orange from the fruit bowl on the counter, and began to throw it from one hand to the other. He chanced a calm smile, in that manner of his that suggested he either knew the secrets of the universe, or knew nothing at all.

"So... I'm guessing this isn't about drinks."

"Shrewd." Tellulah smiled, before exhaling slightly. "You remember when you were looking at our budget and taxes?"

"Yes..." Wakko said, although in reality he remembered giving up on doing the math and instead quoting Marx brothers gags on the subject. He noticed Tellulah was giving him her long-suffering, "I love your boyish charms but your childishness annoys me" look.

"The other day, before you gave up and had to re-do them all this morning, you said you thought the budget would hold up as it was, as long as we didn't make any lifestyle changes any time soon."

"Oh, yeah. That." Wakko continued to throw the orange up in the air and catch it, following the trajectory. "So?"

"Well..." Tellulah became fidgety again, pursing her lips like she did when she was thinking how to explain something tactfully. Wakko couldn't help smiling. She had the cutest mannerisms, especially when she wiggled her nose. "You remember when we got Yakko to look after Abbi a couple of weeks ago, and we had an "us" night?"

"Do I." Wakko grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Tellulah sighed and looked away, fidgeting even more. Wakko continued throwing and catching the orange, but without really focusing on it. Brow furrowed, he watched Tellulah's agitation with a growing sense of unease.

"'Lu... What's going on?"

"I'm pregnant, Wakko." She turned to face him just in time to see him completely misjudge a throw, and the orange bounce off his head with a squelch. Her face, set in resolve, became a mixture of shock and laughter as she tried to find kitchen towel to wipe some of the orange goo off his head. "Oh, Wak..."

"Pregnant?" His voice was almost back to the goony, mid-pubescent quake it had been at when she first saw him on TV. He had always been her favourite, even then. She'd first met him six years later at a charity gala at the Warner Brothers Studios, and the first thing she'd done was ask for an autograph. The second thing was simultaneously blushing and regretting it, but Wakko had laughed and obliged... along with a phone number. As she mopped citrus fruit from his head while he attempted to twist round to look at her face, she found herself holding back laughter; how on earth had she been worried about telling him?

"We don't have a spare room. We may not have the money... what do we say to Abbi?"

"Wakko." She laughed, standing in front of him, and putting her hands on his shoulders. She looked into his big, black eyes, and smiled. "We have enough money to refurbish the garage."

"Yeah... hey, we could move the music room in there... We do have the money, things will just be a little tight, that's all. We'll work it out." He grinned, hugging her.

"We did it before." She raised an eyebrow, smirking before hugging him back. The both began to laugh. Tellulah laughed and laughed until she felt lightheaded, all the while hugging Wakko and just feeling so glad. Eventually, they stopped laughing, and Wakko took her by the hand, leading her into the living room. Babs and Dot looked up expectantly, and Yakko looked from one grinning face to the other, looking bemused and slightly irritated.

"What's going on?"

"Abbi." Tellulah held her hand out, and her daughter hopped off the sofa, clutching a photo.

"Look, look!" She grinned, holding a small, dog-eared photo up. "It's dad when he was my age and I'm already taller than he was."

"That's great." Tellulah cooed, kneeling down in front of her so she could look her in the eyes. "Abbi, listen. Daddy and I have some news for you. We've just found out that, in a few months time, you're going to have a baby brother or sister." Tellulah watched Abbi carefully, smiling as she heard Babs and Dot squeak and Yakko mutter a demand to know why he was the last one to find out. Abbi's brow furrowed as she looked from one parent to the other, glancing at her aunts and uncle too. They all smiled back, reassuringly. She turned to Yakko.

"Uncle Yakko, what's that word you used in the show?"

"`Sibling`, Abbi."

"What's it like being the oldest?"

"Pretty good." Yakko chuckled, holding up some of the pictures. "And in seven years time, you'll be worth your weight in babysitting money." Abbi pursed her lips, a trait she had picked up from her mother, before looking back at her parents.

"Do I get to keep my room?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"Oh... ok then."

Abbi turned and went back to the sofa, rummaging through the photos again. Wakko and Tellulah looked at each other, caught a little off-guard by how easy that was, but sitting down with the collected family all the same, laughter flowing through the group.

The whole Warner clan was crowding around Todd's box, and he couldn't be happier to share in the memories and hear the stories behind them. Interspersed in the _"do you remembers"_ and _"Wasn't that whens"_ were ideas for Slappy's tribute, to which everyone contributed. Todd really wanted to ask how Uncle Wakko and Aunt Tellulah had just found out they were going to have a baby, since that was a big part of the conversation too. Maybe they'd had a letter telling them about it? He waved the thought away, it would be hard to mime asking where babies came from anyway, and right now, he had a wonderful feeling that it didn't matter. They were all here, and they were all together.

Dot's phone beeped in her pocket, and she sighed as it interrupted one of her favourite stories; how Wakko had been convinced that wearing a dress for one of their sketches did not instantly turn him into a girl. She looked at the message screen, displaying a string of digital black text from Graham.

"Won't b home 2nite, called in2 emergency meeting. Max is sleeping over friend's house. LY, TTY soon xx."

Biting back something between a sigh and a scowl, she exited the message and watched as it was instantly saved to an inbox full of very similar entries. She caught Tellulah's eye as she returned her phone to her pocket, and instantly waved away any concern.

"Graham's had to go to some script approval meeting. He probably won't be home till late. Still, Max is at a friends' house for the night so I guess it means more time here!"

"Yay!" Cheered Abbi and Babs, accompanied by Yakko pausing his story-telling to ask if anyone wanted him to cook dinner and a fresh burst of requests and demands.

Gabby was silent. She slipped her hand inside Todd's causing him to look at her with confusion. She bit her lip, looking down at the floor, and he felt waves of immense sadness coming from her. He began to understand. She knew the look on Dot's face. She'd seen this all before.

Todd and Gabby ran up the wooden stairs, their feet scuffing on the floor, giggles echoing around the open, quiet house as they left Dot cooking in the kitchen. Yakko had had to work late, so Gabby had happily skipped home from school with Todd and Dot. Max was visiting his mother in Maine, so the house was silent. Well, "Visiting" was perhaps the wrong word.

Todd smirked to himself, remembering with a guilty joy the look on Max's face as his mother had screamed at him down the phone, demanding to know just what the hell he thought he was playing at and who in God's creation did he think he was. Max had been excluded from school until the end of term, after he had learned how to produce dynamite out of thin air in his Toon Skills class, and subsequently had the brainwave to flush a stick down the toilet. The school had been angry with him, but his mother had been furious, claiming that it was Toon Town which had such a bad influence on her boy, and he clearly needed some safe country air to clear his demons out of him.

Giggling, Todd remembered the reactions both his uncles had had when they found out; they, unlike his parents, had been less concerned about the criminal damage and more concerned with comparing tales of when they had first flushed dynamite, how old they had been, and whether Max was just slow.

That had made Todd feel a little proud. He knew it was mean to say things behind people's backs, but Max was just as mean to him.

He sat in the playroom, and smiled as gabby looked around with wide eyes.

"Wow... you have some cool toys..."

That was the one good thing about Todd's dad's family. They didn't like his mom, but they adored him, and as a result he had a lot of cool toys, including his pride and joy, a big wooden rocking horse, gleaming white with three grey spots by the tail, and long, waxy black hair for the mane and tail. It smiled down on him regally, and it's old, red leather saddle was shiny and comfortable. Todd loved the old horse, whose name was Archibald, if the scrolling red banner on the neck was to be believed, and judging by the shine in her eyes, Gabby did too. Todd patted the saddle, motioning for Gabby to climb up, and, cautiously, she did so. Todd slowly nudged the horse, and Archibald stirred into motion.

Downstairs, Dot stood in the kitchen, chopping vegetables to put in the lasagne she was making for dinner. The door slammed, and Dot rolled her eyes as she heard Graham muttering to himself as he took off his shoes. She started chopping with more vigour, the two-tone "ker-thunk" of the metal knife on the wooden chopping block beginning to sound oddly cathartic.

She understood that Graham had been busy, really, she did, but lately his temperament had moved from irritable towards downright rude. The understanding housewife act was starting to wear a little thin with her, truth be told. He hardly talked to her, going straight from one meeting to the next, and spending any free time either with his buddies or asleep.

She fumed quietly as she cut the vegetables, hearing his voice, right on cue, drifting through to the kitchen.

"Work was hell... Are you cooking?"

"Mm-Hm."

"I'm going out."

She put the knife down on the chopping board, if only to save her from throwing it at the wall.

"I'm making lasagne for the kids; I thought you would have wanted some. You remember, you always used to say it was your favourite?"

She tried to sound upbeat, although she wasn't sure exactly who she was trying to fool.

_Used to. He used to say it was his favourite. He used to say a lot of things._

Now she seemed to be lucky if he spoke to her at all.

"The kids?" He muttered, walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. She looked up at him, his umber fur covered in aftershave, where it wasn't covered by his suit. His bushy tail followed inconspicuously, as though ashamed of its' own presence. Did he even know he was a 'toon anymore? "You do remember Max isn't here, right?"

"Yes, I was talking about Gabby."

He looked at her blankly. Dot rolled her eyes, turning away from her vegetables.

"Remember? I phoned you earlier? Yakko had to work so she's having dinner here?"

"Oh, god." He sighed, burying his face in his hands. "Which one's Gabby, the one with the big ears or the one with the big teeth?"

"Graham!" Dot raised her eyebrows at him, feeling insulted on her nieces' behalf.

"Oh, don't start, Dot, I've had a hard day." He looked down at her, exasperated, and she let herself soften a little.

Toons are very emotive creatures, and tend to have a heightened sense of empathy. Their primary goal is to make people laugh, and so they have a very innate understanding of sadness. He pulled out a chair from the kitchen table, and sat down. She boiled the kettle, feeling sorry for him.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Just this movie stuff." Graham had his eyes closed, and leant back in the chair, as though he were sleeping. "Who knew there were so many people to talk to, just to turn a play script into a screenplay? Ughh..." He sighed, smiling gratefully as she handed him a cup of coffee. "If I have to kiss one more behind, I think I'll just throw it all in."

"You gotta do the schmooze..." Dot giggled, Graham's speech reminding her of her rehearsals with Yakko yesterday. "Or else you'll wind up being yesterday's news." She giggled again, singing along to the tune she had remembered so fondly.

"Dot." Graham sighed, not looking up from his coffee.

"You gotta schmooze 'em while you're talking PR from the phone in your car..."

"Dot..."

"Be the guy who says that I can make you a –"

"Dot!" Graham slammed his fist on the table, causing Dot to freeze in her tracks.

He seemed to have shocked himself as, after a tense pause, he gingerly began to rub his temples.

"Honey, please, I've had a bad day."

"I'm sorry..." She muttered, shrinking slightly as the cold tension began seeping into the room, filling it like an invisible fog. "I was just trying to cheer you up."

"Well why don't you try harder than the dumb songs your brother dug up from a lifetime ago?"

He still wasn't looking at her. He had closed his eyes and was pinching the bridge of his muzzle, chiding her as he would a delinquent child.

"You may be wallowing in the nostalgia, but if I'm perfectly honest, I just see it as arrogant cheese."

Upstairs, Gabby and Todd were laughing so much their hearts raced as she reached down to help him clamber up onto the horse so he could sit in front of her. They both began to urge the horse into rocking, and Todd leant forward in the seat, pressing his hand to his brow.

"We're exploring, Todd!" Gabby giggled, laughing as Todd mimed cheering on the horse. "Across the Sahara, through sunny rainforests and over big purple mountains!"

She laughed, as Todd moved to stand up more but got his foot caught in one of the gleaming steel stirrups. He fell onto the fat red beanbag chair, and looked up, dazed. Gabby giggled, but climbed down off the horse to make sure he was ok. She reached out to help him up, and he pulled her over onto the floor next to him. They both lay there giggling for a bit, before sitting up. Gabby looked around the play room, trying to find something else to do.

"What shall we do now? Todd?" She turned back to look at him, but stopped smiling, as she saw he had gone very still. His ears were perked up, and his eyes were narrowed in confusion. Gabby's ears twitched too, trying to hear what he could hear.

Voices drifted up from the kitchen, but they were muffled from travelling through such a distance. Gabby couldn't hear exactly what Todd's parents were saying, but it was a tone she was sickeningly familiar with. Biting her lip, she looked over at Todd, whose face was still clouded with confusion as he tried to decode the muffled argument.

"Come on, Todd." She smiled, but it was shaky now, losing the confidence she had just minutes ago. "Let's play something else."

Todd looked at her, but didn't really seem to see her. Silently, he stood up and left the play room. Gabby stumbled to her feet, but he was already at the top of the stairs when she found him. His nose was poking between the pillars of the banister, his white face resting against the dark wood. He looked at her, his eyes watery. Gabby kneeled by him, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

He still hadn't said anything, but she knew exactly how he felt. He wanted to be there, even though he knew it would make him sad. He wanted to hear it, just so he knew what had happened, in the unlikely hopes he could help. Gabby sniffed alongside him, as she squeezed his shoulders. She knew how he felt, because she had felt exactly the same.

"For gods' sake, Graham!" Dot was trying hard to control her voice, but she was almost shouting. "I'm sorry I can't read your mind, but I do all I can to make you happy. If you're resigned to being old and miserable then that's not my fault."

"I'm not old, Dot, you're just immature." Graham countered, in the same tone. Gabby could only hear Todd's parents, but she had a feeling they'd see them soon.

"I'm immature?" Dot repeated, and there was a heavy, resounding sound as a pan was dropped on the kitchen counter with more force than was needed.

Todd flinched. Gabby hugged him tighter.

"No, you know, I'm not immature. I'm just trying to enjoy my life; I'm just trying to have fun."

"Oh, and you enjoy your life by sitting in your divorced brothers' apartment and singing songs from a TV series that ended before you were even in high school?"

"Don't hide your feelings, Graham, say what you really think."

Gabby sniffed, remembering the amount of times her dad had addressed her mother with the same tone.

"I just don't see the point in you sitting there wallowing in the past. I thought you didn't want to be the Warner sister anymore? I thought that was what that stupid row was about in the first place."

"Don't start talking down to me like that, Graham, you have no right!" There was an ominous growl in Dot's voice, and Gabby felt Todd tense in her arms. She hugged him, not able to tear her eyes away from the kitchen door, as she felt Todd rest his nose on her arm.

"Let me guess, I wasn't there, I didn't have the troubled Warner past... try writing your autobiography, then maybe someone will care. You know, if you and your brothers were messed up kids, I wouldn't have a problem, but I wish you could have told me before you passed those genes on to Todd!"

Gabby held her breath, clutching Todd tighter. She didn't know exactly what he had meant, but the tone made it obvious it was meant to be an insult.

There was a long, silent pause. Dot's voice was quieter, but just as forceful.

"Get out."

There was another pause, in which Todd gripped Gabby's arm tighter. She could hear him whimpering quietly as he held back tears.

"Dot... I didn't..."

"Get out!"

It was yelled as a demand. Neither Todd nor Gabby had ever heard Dot speak in that tone before. As the kitchen door flew open, Todd scrambled to his feet and ran back towards the play room. It was that moment that seemed to break the spell, and for a moment, Gabby was stunned. As she stood to follow him, she looked back over her shoulder and saw her Uncle Graham squeezing his feet into sneakers, and grabbing a jacket.

He was muttering something under his breath, and shooting sour looks towards the kitchen, where she could just see Dot standing in the doorway. They were talking, much quieter, but they were still very angry. Gabby shrunk back towards the play room, knowing that it would be best to go down ten counts after the door slammed.

She walked into the playroom, and saw Todd, hugging his knees to his chest, his baggy coat covered over his head, and Archibald the horse smiling reassuringly above him. Gabby knelt down in front of him, lifting up the end of his coat so she could see his face. He sniffed, and turned away.

"It's nasty Todd." She crawled beside him, and sat down cross-legged, resting her head on Archibald's saddle. "I know. Its' worse when they argue after you've gone to bed though. You can't decide if you listen or not then. You just have to lie there and try to think of something else."

The door slammed, and Gabby closed her eyes. She and Todd huddled closer together, as he pulled his coat off his head.

"It wasn't so bad though." Gabby croaked, her voice reverting back to the hoarse whisper it had been when he had first met her. Todd hadn't realised just how confident she had gotten until now. It was almost worrying to see her revert back to the timid mouse of a child she'd been that first day of school. He leant his head on her shoulder.

"Mommy and Daddy one time had an argument where she flushed his phone down the toilet." Todd sniffed again, and looked up at Gabby, an eyebrow raised. She gave a choked giggle, and shrugged. "I still don't know why." Gabby looked down at Todd, who held his throat, looking pained.

"You don't have to talk about it." Gabby whispered. "A lot of adults say you have to talk about it, but if you don't want to then it doesn't matter. They just think they're helping." Gabby smiled, standing up and holding her hand out for Todd.

"A lot of the time, grown-ups try and help, but they can only see it their way, so they're not always right. Come on. We have to cheer your Mommy up now. If we make a lot of noise going downstairs then she'll start talking about us and won't be thinking so much about it."

Gabby smiled, and Todd smiled back, glad to have his cousin here. He loved her and Abbi very much, and he felt it would be a lot easier for everyone now they all had each other to be friends with. He ran after Gabby as they both began to stampede towards the stairs, hoping to be a distraction. A couple of arguments don't mean anything, anyway. After all, they'd all argued in the playground, and they were still friends.

The next day, Abbi lay on her stomach on the grass of the playground, her bag in front of her nose. She smiled with pride as she looked down at the card she had made in Arts and Crafts. Rolling onto her back, she closed her eyes as the sun warmed her skin, and she clutched the card close to her chest. A shadow fell over her face, and she opened one eye, expecting to see Todd, back from his chat with the school nurse, or Gabby back from the restroom, but instead she looked up into the jowly, fine-haired face of Junior.

"What do you want, meat-head?"

"Oh come on Abbi, I said I was sorry..." Junior kicked his feet, looking at her sheepishly. "I didn't want to be mean or anything..." His eyes fell on the card, made of vibrant red and blue craft paper and with gratuitous blobs of silver glitter, which rested on her chest. "What's that?" He pointed to the card, and Abbi clutched it tighter to her.

"It's a card for my mom." Abbi allowed herself a proud smile. "She's going to have a baby, and I made her and Daddy a card to wish them good luck so the stork comes."

"What stork?"

"The stork that brings the babies." Abbi rolled her eyes. "Duh."

"That's not where babies come from." Junior laughed, puffing out his chest. "My big sister told me all about where babies come from when my Mom was pregnant with Chip. You wanna ask your mum to tell you, it's _gross!_" He wrinkled his nose, before shrugging and turning to walk away. "Oh well, I'm sorry about your mom. See you, Abbi."

"What do you mean, "sorry"?" Abbi sat up, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Well, once a baby comes along, your parents aren't going to care much about you."

"That's not true." Abbi scrambled to her feet, scowling at him. He held his hands up.

"I'm not trying to fight, it's the truth!" Junior looked at her, with disarming sincerity. "Babies take up all their time, and always end up screaming and smelling. I know." He said, defiantly, before whispering conspiratorially. "It's what happened to me with Chip, and Lulu said it happened to her when Mom was pregnant with me."

"Well... I don't believe you." Abbi stuck her nose in the air. "Your sister always lies, and you're a bully."

"Only 'cos everyone makes me feel bad." Junior snapped, but he looked more sad than angry. "Fine, find out on your own. I was just trying to warn you."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and skulked away, under Abbi's glare. She unzipped her jacket, put her card inside and zipped it up again, all the way to her chin. She sat on the ground and crossed her legs, leaning on her hands. She fumed quietly as she saw Junior walking across the playground. She felt a little bad for being angry at Junior, since she knew his parents had been ignoring him a bit since he got a baby brother, but he had no right to try and make her worried about her parents doing the same thing.

Her parents loved her. They weren't going to start ignoring her now, just because they were having a baby... right?

"Boo!" Abbi gasped as Gabby appeared behind her, giggling. Gabby looked at her, head cocked to one side, her ears perked up. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just Junior bugging me again."

"Oh." Gabby sighed, sitting down next to her. "He's stupid; dad says bullies have too much free time and too little control over themselves."

"Can't we just hit him with a big mallet?" Abbi smiled wickedly.

"We don't learn that 'til next year." Gabby grinned back, "But we are learning how to make and throw pies when we come back after spring break."

"I wish I knew how to do all the Toons Skills. Right now, so we could have our own cartoon like our dads did."

"Yeah... but then we'd miss the lessons, which are a lot of fun." Gabby nodded sagely, looking around. "Oh, here's Todd!"

As Todd ran towards them, Abbi laughed and pulled faces, falling over as he tackled and hugged her. As they diverged into Horseplay, and Gabby sat back, giggling and telling stories, Abbi let her worries about Junior and the new baby slip away to the back of her mind. Even when the bell shrieked through their giggles and the kids all trudged dutifully back to their lessons, Abbi focused more on her work than usual. But, at the end of the day, when she saw her parents waiting for her outside the school gates, Junior's comments still hadn't gone completely from her mind.

She spread a smile across her face and hugged her Dad tightly, unzipping her jacket and giving her Mom the card.

It wasn't a real smile, it was a smile that hurt her cheeks, and made her stomach tense. She kept telling herself that Junior was wrong, but it didn't keep her from thinking about it.


	10. Chapter 10

Abbi lay on her back, the stretched and faded fabric of the old Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt warm and soft against her fur. The creamy pink shadows of the bed-sheet over her head were unperturbed by the morning light.

"Abbi, you need to get up." Her mom's voice shot from the doorway, laden with irritation. "Uncle Yakko wants us to help decorate the hall before the party. And for heaven's sake, wear something nice, would you?"

Anyone would think she'd been asked a million times, but that was the first time her mom had spoken to her that morning. Her mother always sounded like that now.

Tired.

Annoyed.

Abbi wouldn't mind so much, (after all, her dad had explained that getting ready for the baby meant mom would be irritable and in need of extra help) but nothing she did seemed to be right lately, no matter how hard she tried. Junior's words kept bouncing around her brain like a big red dodgeball, making her angry and upset. Of course, he wasn't right.

Junior wasn't clever. He wasn't a Warner. He didn't know anything.

She hoped...

"Abbi!" Her mother snapped again. Abbi didn't jump. She just sighed and kicked off the sheet as her mother insisted she get up.

Across town, Gabby and Yakko sat at the tall glass table, she with a breakfast of sugar coated cornflakes and orange juice, and he with toast, coffee and a newspaper. She smiled cheerily as she wolfed down her cereal, but would occasionally look up to see her dad's tail twitching, his eyes not focusing on the paper.

"Dad?" She smiled, but was put on edge by how nervous he was.

"Mm?" Yakko's head snapped up, blinking as he bumped into the present, feigning a casual tone.

"Are you... ok?"

"What... yeah. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Gabby raised her eyebrows and looked pointedly at her dad's tail, flicking and twitching irrationally, and then gave him a level stare. Yakko chuckled slightly at being caught out, the serious expression on her child-like features making her seem too adorable.

"I can't put much past you, can I?"

"Nope." Gabby smiled, proudly. "Mrs Slappy told me I was a smart cookie." She stuck her chin out, clearly holding Slappy's compliment in the highest regard, and rested her spoon neatly against the edge of her placemat. Yakko looked down at her with pleasant surprise.

He couldn't believe how confident she'd gotten. Sure, she probably wouldn't be standing on stage any time soon, but he was ok with that. He just wanted to see her happy, and since she'd befriended her cousins, she'd gone from strength to strength. And, he reasoned, if his seven year old daughter could do it...

"Actually, Gab, could I tell you a secret?"

She nodded, leaning forward, her brow laced with concern.

"I'm a little nervous. I haven't performed anything in person for years, and this is so important to Slappy. I'm worried, and I really want this to go right."

"You're... nervous?" Gabby repeated, trying to make sense of the sentiment, trying to make it work in her mind. Her dad didn't get nervous. He was too cool for that. He made jokes and sang and told stories, and wasn't afraid of anyone or anything.

"Well you shouldn't be." She stammered, seeing a look of worry in his eyes, feeling she had to say something. "You're the best piano player I know, along with uncle Wakko."

Yakko chuckled. "Gabby, just how many piano players do you know?"

She blushed a little, her tail twitching.

"That's not the point." She hopped down from her chair and walked around to him, holding her arms up. Obligingly, he lifted her into his lap.

"Mrs Slappy said she thought of us as her family, and that means she'll love you even if you mess up, because you tried."

"You think so?"

"Well that's what you say to me, isn't it? When I get worried about doing something wrong, you say `Gabby, you're my little girl and if you do your best, that's all I can ask`. No matter what." She was looking down at her fingers, fumbling and nervous again, yet when she finished her sentence, she looked up at her father, straight into his eyes, and had such a gentle expression of calm determination, Yakko couldn't help but smile. Her brow was set, her eyes light but firm, and slightly covered by her scruffy fringe, her lips forming a steadfast pout over the front of her teeth. He felt a rush of pride.

"You're right, kiddo. Glad to know at least one of us has been listening to what I've said."

Of course, it wasn't all that simple. There was the matter of Babs and Buster, and the sensation of his stomach being crunched up like tin cans in a garbage disposal he felt every time he thought about seeing them together. There was his advising a panicking Wakko about a hormonal Tellulah, and his worries about Dot and Graham. Still, from the mouths of babes...

"Thanks, Gabs." He hugged her, before setting her back down in her chair. "Now eat up, or we're going to be late."

Todd stood at the foot of the stairs, tugging at the hem of his black T-shirt. He had been bribed, begged and threatened, but eventually his mother had convinced him to hand over his big, brown coat and let it be washed. He wasn't happy, but he supposed Slappy would prefer it if he looked smart for her party, and he did want her to be happy.

"Here we go." Dot smiled, her voice breathy and light as she walked down the stairs, examining the old coat. "Nice and clean."

She smiled boldly as Todd held up his arms and struggled into his coat, before flinging his arms around her in a hug. He stepped back, curious, and looked back up the stairs.

"No, sweetie." Dot sniffed, the smile remaining on her face but somehow seeming less real. "I don't think your dad will be coming with us. Come on." She flashed another smile and reached down for Todd's hand, never quite looking him in the eye.

This time, he could see the fur around her eyes. It was slightly damp, pressed down over pink skin. Had she been crying? Todd smiled again and hugged her tighter, wishing he knew what to do to make her happy. He let himself be walked over to the car, lifted up and buckled in, trying not to think about it. He tried to focus on the party and remember the songs and dances he would be in, but it was hard.

They weren't even arguing now. Well, not outright. They were never in the same room as each other long enough for that. When they did speak, which wasn't often, it was cold and curt. He felt so... small.

_Useless. _

He didn't know, didn't understand. He could do schoolwork as well as children almost twice his age, but he understood emotions as well as any other four year old. Sometimes he worried if it was his fault. He had heard his parents arguing, and heard his name mentioned... they both seemed to treat him as normal when they were on their own, but when they were together, he couldn't help feeling like they were fighting over him. He was just so confused by it all, that for once he wasn't being silent out of choice. He really had no idea what he could say.

What he didn't know was that Dot was feeling just as confused.

The hall was a large rectangle of scratched linoleum floor and scuffed cream walls, with long, communal dining tables folded and tucked away in the corner. It had taken all morning and a lot of favours, but now it stood filled with circular tables seating four each, colourful tablecloths, glittery banners and shiny balloons. The piano and the small raised stage at the end of the room were well lit, and patiently waiting for the party.

The children, however, were not. Todd and Gabby played hide and seek backstage, trying not to listen as Abbi was buried under her mother's angry words.

"For the last time, Abbi. How hard is it to keep a dress on and keep clean?"

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean..."

"Of course not. You never `mean` to. Honestly, Abigail, isn't it time you stopped being such a baby?"

"Wish I was." Abbi mumbled stubbornly into her sleeve, staring hard at the cushioned linoleum, but she was covered by her father speaking simultaneously.

"Now, 'Lu, take it easy." His voice was wary, drifting over from his vantage point by the piano. "Accidents happen."

"Oh, that's easy for you to say, isn't it?" She snapped, her eyes flashing as she tossed back her hair, her luxurious curls of black hair shimmering in the halogen light. Abbi would never admit it, but her mom was scary when she was angry, her eyes flashing and hair bobbing. Abbi thought she looked like a story-book witch.

As if reading her thoughts, Tellulah's gaze snapped to Abbi, her lips thin and tight.

"What was that?"

"I said I wish..." Abbi began, before trailing off into incoherent mumblings. Tellulah stepped towards her.

"What?"

"I said I wish I was a baby!" Abbi spat, her voice breaking, and quickly becoming choked with tears. "'Cos maybe then everything wouldn't be my fault and you wouldn't be all angry and I wouldn't have to live with that!"

She pointed at her mother's stomach before stumbling quickly from the room, the quick "pup-up-up" of her paws on the lino the only sound cutting through the shocked silence. Tellulah stared after her daughter for a moment, before sitting down heavily on one of the chairs, putting her hands over her eyes, and counting quietly to herself.

Wakko shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking from Tellulah to the door, caught between a rock and a hormonal cat-toon. He looked imploringly to his brother, who had been keeping his head down at the piano stool. Yakko shot him a sly smile, standing quietly.

"I'll go talk to Abbi. You go reign in the kids. 'Lu just needs a little break, that's all."

The courtyard garden was alive with an early spring, the unseasonal sun bursting through the gaps in the leaves of Slappy's old oak tree, dappling the lawn, the walls and, Yakko observed, pretty much everything. Except, that is, for a little ball of black fur, wrapped up in a slightly damp blue dress, which sat entirely in the shade, curled up against the dusty tree trunk.

Yakko smiled softly as a million and one memories of similar experiences flashed through his mind; calming Dot down after Wakko broke her toys, counselling Wakko after he had embarrassed himself in front of a first crush… the relative and setting changed, but the general feeling of the experience remained. "Big Brother" moments.

He sat down next to Abbi's puppyish form, looking out across the bright flowers of the garden.

"Hey." He spoke quietly, but calmly.

Abbi sniffed, and curled up smaller.

"Oh, I agree." Yakko continued, smiling. "You think I don't know? I've been through the Sibling Dread twice."

Abbi was silent for a moment, before sniffing again and suddenly flipping one hundred and eighty degrees, wrapping her arms around Yakko's waist. The white fur around her face was damp and grubby with tears, and her nose was more red than pink, a true Warner tomato.

"It's not... really... my fault, is it?" she mumbled, her brow furrowed and her eyes fogged with confusion. Yakko rested one hand on her shoulder, and stroked her head gently with the other. He smiled down at her.

"Of course not. The juice'll wash right out."

"It's just..." She sniffed, her gaze focused on some far away point, her eyes beginning to well with fresh tears, "what if, 'cos babies need a lot of care and attention and stuff, and I know that it'll need more looking after than me so what if they like looking after it more, 'cos everyone loves babies, and..."

The tears overflowed with her words, causing Yakko to sweep her into a hug, holding her off the ground and stroking the back of her head.

"Hush-sh-sh... now, you listen to your uncle Yakk." He soothed, patting her on the back. "Every time a kid's about to get a little sibling, they always get worried that something's gonna go wrong. It's natural. I had it, your Dad had it, Your Aunt Babs has a hilarious story about her eldest brother, Rizz, and how he went through it 15 times."

"Really?" Abbi sniffed, looking up at him with unusually meek eyes.

"Yeah, ask her to tell you some time. But... ehhhh... best wait 'til you're a little older actually. Some of it isn't exactly kid safe."

"But... you were scared too?"

"Terrified." Yakko chuckled. "Both times. But look at us now. Hey, look at the show. My sibs are my closest friends, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. Sure, we've squabbled, but that's just normal. You know something?"

"What?" Abbi choked, her clumsy, gloved fingers wiping tears from her eyes, her tail twitching.

"It may not always feel like it, but you're gonna love this little sib just like you love Gabby and Todd. You'll make a brilliant big sister, I know you will. And any time you want to talk to someone other than your parents, you know you can talk to me." Yakko lifted her up above his head, before bringing her in for a hug and pressing his nose against his, making her giggle. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And your Aunt Dot, and Slappy, and even your Aunt Babs."

"I know." She sniffed. And then, "Thanks".

"It'll be fine. Don't mention it. You ready to go back inside?"

Abbi paused a while, her tail slowly calming from an agitated twitch to a thoughtful swish.

"Can we stay here a bit?"

"Sure." He smiled, leaning back against the warm, sun-dappled oak, setting her on the ground. He rested a hand on her back as she hugged his knee like a pillow. He let the wind tickle and ruffle his ears, whilst the sun made his skin prickle beneath his fur, watching as her chest rose and fell, her breathing slowing as she gently let herself calm down. He looked down at the fronds of black fur, the long, slender tail, and the big yet graceful white feet poking out under her dress.

He decided he could probably be brave enough to play, for her.

Wakko snooped around backstage, trying to track down his erstwhile nephew. Gabby had been found and already gone obediently with Tellulah across the street to get some ice creams. Todd, however, was being decidedly evasive.

"C'mon, Todd... come out." Wakko whined, getting tired of looking. He never had been any good at hide and seek. Todd, however, was a master, and was thus very proud when he leapt from his corner behind the curtains and made his uncle jump a foot backwards in shock.

"You rat." Wakko smiled, shaking his head. "Come on, let's go get some ice cream."

Todd grinned, but then froze. Wakko raised an eyebrow, noticing Todd's ears had perked up. He did likewise, and though his hearing wasn't as good as his nephew's, he could certainly hear something.

_Feet padding around the lino. _

_Dot humming. _

Why was Todd so tense about that? Dot had been in and out all day, fetching various things, running errands, checking on Slappy. That wasn't... He looked at Todd, who was stood quietly now, a far-away look in his eyes as he strained to hear what was going on. Wakko perked his ears up again, wondering if he'd missed something.

Sure enough, there was a second set of footsteps, tapping irritably.

"Dot." Graham's voice was weary, but not pleading. Dot stopped humming.

"I'm not going to argue with you today. This is Slappy's day."

"I see. So she's more entitled to your time than I am, is that it?"

There was a silence. Wakko could imagine Dot's face, and couldn't help but grimace. She'd always had the amazing ability to cut men down with just a simple raising of the eyebrow. She knew exactly the most effective configurations of her facial features. It was like a superpower.

As Dot's voice crept back to them, a deadly whisper that rose with strength and indignation, Wakko moved slowly and quietly to Todd, crouching down beside him as he trembled, his tail between his legs.

"How... dare you. I spend a few weeks preparing a birthday party for a friend I've known since I was six years old, and you have the... you think you have the right to stand there, look me in the eye and tell me that my priorities are wrong?"

"I didn't say..."

"After you've spent more of the last seven months with your agent than you have with me, you dare to come in here and give me this crap that you feel unloved?"

Wakko cringed. It was still weird hearing Dot cuss.

"I've got news for you, Graham." Dot continued, her voice dropping to a deadly hiss, like a wildcat coiled and ready to claw at the jugular. "You have no right to any of my time. You expect me to be there waiting for you, the prim and proper fifties housewife you write your damn plays about. Well you know what? There's a play I like more than yours. It's the staple of feminist drama. Do you know `A Doll's House`?"

"Dot..."

"Do you know it?"

Silence. Dot's voice was artificially bright, and sarcastically chipper. This was more scathing than if she'd screamed a tirade of abuse. It was cold and calculated. It was a tone Wakko had only been up against once before, and he had found the experience one of the most harrowing of his life.

Wakko wrapped his arms around Todd, hugging as they heard Dot and Graham continued in this sterile, clinical argument. Dot was a nimble, verbal swordsman, jabbing precisely at the lumbering, unprepared Graham. He sighed. Eventually, they heard "no."

"It's about a woman who saves her husband from dying by getting a loan to take him on holiday. Rest and recuperation, you know? The problem is, at the time it was set, it was illegal for a woman to get a loan, so she forged her fathers' signature. So of course, she's now committed two crimes. She does everything she can to keep her husband from finding out but in the end, she begins to wonder if it was worth it at all. Saving her husband, I mean. Trying to save her marriage."

"_Oh, Dot…_" Wakko hugged Todd tighter, resting his nose on the rim of his boater hat, his eyes closed in a silent plea. _"Please don't do this. Not here, not now. We're here, we're still here."_

"Dot... what are you saying?"

There was a silence. Possibly the longest yet. It certainly felt like it was dragging on for ages, heavy and oppressive, as Wakko felt Todd's silent sobs begin to shake his body as the child clutched his arm.

"I want a divorce."

"What?"

"You heard. I don't need a separation. I already know what it's like to be living without you."

One set of footsteps left the room smartly.

There was a shocked pause, before the other set scrabbled after them.

The door clicked shut.

_There you have it. Show's over._

Wakko let his ears drop, and looked down at Todd, who was biting his lip, his eyes screwed shut as big watery tears pooled in his eyes. He gazed up at Wakko, silently imploring, wordlessly begging for his uncle to make everything ok, and tell him he'd just misunderstood… Wakko could feel his heart rending itself apart when he gazed down at the lost and terrified four year old.

Wakko kneeled, so his head was the same height as Todd's, and hugged him tight. He couldn't say anything. He knew there was nothing he could say. He couldn't lie, and he couldn't tell the truth.

He'd been there. His parents had had similar arguments, but nothing so cool and controlled, so unemotional... He sat there, the hard boards of the stage digging into his knees, Todd's chin resting on his shoulder, silently shaking as her whimpered. Eventually, the silence lightened.

"I know it sounds hard to believe..." Wakko whispered, his own eyes closed as he hugged this miniature Warner. Maybe he saw the boy as a portal to a former self. Maybe he saw a lot of himself in Todd. That's how he treated it, telling Todd exactly what he'd wanted someone to say to him.

"But it gets better. Grown-ups don't always know what they're doing. I promise you, no one is going to blame you or make it your fault. They'll be hurting for a while, but it gets better. You're going to have to be strong for your mom, but we'll all be here to help her through it. I promise you."

Todd pulled away, looking into Wakko's eyes. So much expression for such a small child. Eventually, Todd sniffed, nodded, and stepped back, taking Wakko's hand. Wakko smiled, stood, and lifted Todd up onto his shoulders. Todd giggled as he was bounced up and down, the tears ebbing away. Wakko smiled too, knowing damn well that it'd be a cold day in hell before he let anything like this get the better of his nephew.

Gabby had sat patiently outside the k-mart as Tellulah brought ice creams. She looked across the street to the old peoples' home, kicking her feet as they hung a few inches off the ground, leaning back on her bench. She smiled as the warm sun shone on her face, waiting quietly as instructed. Her Aunt 'Lu was moody lately, and sometimes she didn't have the energy to look after children. Gabby had a feeling it was to do with the baby, and she guessed that just doing as she was asked would make life easier for everyone.

Across the street, she saw Graham and Dot talking to each other, although she couldn't tell what they were talking about. They didn't look happy, though. Graham threw his hands up in the air, got into his car, and drove off. Dot watched him leave, a curious expression on her face, before turning. Gabby jumped slightly as Dot looked up, their eyes meeting. Gabby blushed furiously as her aunt crossed the street and walked towards her.

"Gabby, what are you doing out here?"

"I'm... waiting for aunt 'Lu..." Gabby mumbled, her eyes fixed on her toes.

"Oh?"

"She's getting us ice creams."

"Sounds nice." Dot didn't sound angry. She didn't sound upset, or embarrassed, or anything. She just sounded… Normal.

Gabby flushed a little. She should be angry. Or upset. Or something. How could she just be normal when she was arguing with Graham all the time? They should at least look like they're trying hard to be happy, but Dot seemed quite breezy as she sat down on the bench. Gabby gulped, trying to push back her indignant blushes.

"Are you sure you don't want to perform in Slappy's show?"

Gabby didn't look up, but she guessed Dot was smiling. How could she? Didn't she know what she was putting Todd through? How it felt to sit there and hear your parents arguing in the other room?

"No."

Silence.

"How's school?"

Distracting with small-talk. Why did adults always think they could make kids forget stuff that easily? Gabby didn't move, but she wanted to. She wanted to skulk off in a huff, or argue back, or say all the rude words she could think of. But she couldn't.

"Fine."

More silence.

Gabby could feel it all boiling up inside of her; all the anger, the fear, the frustration that she thought had gone away. It was twisting and writing and knotting up in her stomach like she'd swallowed a nest of snakes. Her breath came short and sharp as she felt the wobbly tickle, oh-so-familiar, pricking at the corners of her eyes

"Gabby, is everything..."

"Why aren't you angry?" Gabby blurted, suddenly torn between clamming up and hoping Dot hadn't heard, and jumping up and kicking things. The jumping urge won out.

"What?"

"You should be angry!" Gabby yelled, an indignant squeak in her voice. Dot was clearly taken aback, her mouth open and uncertainty in her eyes.

She was surprised Gabby was yelling. Gabby was a little surprised too.

_Well, good. She deserves it_.

"You should be upset and angry and miserable!"

"Gabby..."

"No. You don't know how it feels, how I... how Todd feels. When grown-ups try and take the problem away, we still have to deal with it. We sit there, listening to both of you telling each other not to yell. You think we can't hear it? Or, or, or see how you glare at each other or stuff like that? You think that, just because you use big words or say "we'll talk later", you think we can't figure it out? It's cruel, the way you all treat us, sometimes. It's cruel and it's not fair! It's not fair at all!"

"It's not easy on anyone, Gabby." Dot riled. "And I don't expect to be spoken to like that."

"Well you should be!" Gabby squeaked again, the unrelenting flow of pent-up frustration blocking out her usual timid nature. Part of her brain was ringing alarm bells, telling her to stop before she got in trouble, but she couldn't.

She didn't want to. It felt good, to finally say everything she had thought over the last year, and to say it to someone who she knew would have to listen. Even if Dot told her Dad, even if she got grounded for being rude, she didn't care. She just wanted it out there.

"If everyone's unhappy then it's fair because we're all in it together. But if you pretend that it doesn't bother you..."

"It. Doesn't." Dot spoke firmly, locking eyes with Gabby. Gabby faltered, thrown by this statement.

"How..."

Dot looked away, biting her lip and closing her eyes. Gabby slumped slightly, standing in shock. "How can you say that? It's... it's a bad thing..."

"Not... not always." Dot shifted, before holding her arms out to Gabby, who approached with care.

"When it comes to me and Graham, we need some space. Divor... separation... isn't always a good idea, but sometimes it works the best. Look, I... maybe you should be talking to your Dad about this..."

"No!" Gabby squeaked, panic in her eyes. "You can't tell him."

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm supposed to be happy. I have to be happy, otherwise he'll worry about me and be even more... upset."She had blurted it out, suddenly feeling very small again. She hadn't ever said it out loud, and it suddenly made her feel very puny.

Dot's eyes gleamed as she swept her niece up into a hug. She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it. For a moment, this is all they needed. Eventually, she smiled.

"Gabby… you have no idea how… I'm sorry. Tell you what. You can help me make sure Todd's happy, and I can help you make sure your dad's happy. Deal?"

Gabby sniffed, eventually nodding. They hugged tighter, both feeling the kind of closure that they hadn't realised they needed.

The innocent voice of a child, telling her exactly what she was worried about.

The experienced voice of an aunt, telling her all she had wanted to hear.

After a moment, Tellulah left the shop, smiling again. She raised an eyebrow at Dot, who gave a silent grimace, implying it was better not to ask. Tellulah nodded, handing Gabby one of the ice creams.

"Come on; let's get back to the rehearsals. I have a fair few people to apologise to." Tellulah rolled her eyes, looking tired and chastised. Dot set Gabby down on the ground and took some of the ice creams from Tellulah, beginning to talk about the pregnancy.

Gabby smiled as she licked happily at the strawberry lolly. It was an odd feeling, knowing she had that kind of strength in side of her. She wasn't much of a fighter, and she was still bad at PE. But she could stick up for herself. She knew that now.


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N.: Sorry this chapter is super long, but it didn't work as two shorter ones. Enjoy!**

Gabby stood beside Slappy's table, holding her hand as the elderly squirrel greeted toon after toon, thanking them for coming in her own, unique way.

"Hey, Pebbles, glad you could make it… I'd heard you'd got the stones." Wicked laughter.

"Well, if it ain't the mice with the most. How's that "take over the world" thing going so far?" Wicked laughter.

"Ah, nuts, I thought I told them to make sure your invite got lost in the post." A wink.

Gabby smiled, buzzing with excitement as some of the most famous toons in Hollywood bustled into the hall. Including…

"Babs. Buster. Good to see you."

"Mommy!" Gabby thrilled, clutching her mother around the waist. She thought she could see Slappy over her shoulder, and for a moment she looked sort of angry. But that was gone soon enough, as her mother lifted her for a hug, and the blue rabbit she was with shook first Slappy's, then Gabby's hand.

"Gabby… sweetie… I want you to meet someone very special to me."

"Hiya kid." The blue rabbit had a coarse, throaty kind of voice. He smiled broadly, and Gabby smiled back politely. Shyly, but politely.

"Hi."

"I'm Buster. You must be Gabby. Your Mom's told me a lot about you."

"Oh. She didn't say anything about you."

She heard a loud snort coming from Slappy, who was grinning at them. Under unimpressed glares from Babs and Buster, Slappy cleared her throat and reduced her grin to a smirk.

"Kids. They just say the darndest things."

"Don't they, though." Babs spoke slowly, with a great deal of measured patience, which even Gabby knew was the tone that meant "if you don't have anything to add, you can go somewhere else". Slappy seemed to take the hint.

"Well, uh… I'll leave you kids to it. I have other guests to see…" She shot a wink at Gabby, and Gabby could have sworn she'd heard her mutter "Guests with a better sense of timing."

Across the hall, Wakko and Tellulah were talking quietly and intently at the edge of the stage, and Slappy decided against butting in. Tellulah wasn't taking the pregnancy well, and had near snapped three times that afternoon. She was lucky, Slappy thought, to have someone as patient and supportive as Wakko. He had listened, and spoken to her calmly, but now he was eager to get backstage, and Tellulah didn't seem happy to finish their conversation early.

Dot, meanwhile, had spent the entire party outside, talking on her phone and trying to pretend she wasn't arguing with her husband every time someone walked by. She was somewhere between flustered and detached, angry and icy, pacing about and gesturing wildly. Slappy made a note to steer clear of her, too. Across the hall, Yakko was talking animatedly with her nephew, no longer going by "Skippy", but trying for a cool, grown up edge with "Scott". So, naturally, Slappy strolled over.

"Heya, Skipp." She slapped him on the back, and turned to an attractive young Chipmunk 'toon who was minding her own business at a nearby table. "This is Skippy. My nephew. He wasn't always this tall, you know, he used to be about knee high and sung falsetto 'til he was fourteen."

The chipmunk 'toon, who was one of Slappy's social workers, gave her an experienced smile, and then exchanged a glance with Skippy, or Scott, as she patted Slappy on the back and left. Slappy and Yakko smirked at each other.

"Everyone enjoying themselves?"

"It's a good arty." Yakko grinned, giving Slappy a hug. "I have to say, I'm getting a little nervous about performing."

"Don't be." Skippy (Scott) reclined against one of the tables. "Pretty much everyone here knows who you are; you're among friends."  
"True." Yakko nodded.

"Some more friendly than others." Slappy muttered, but when Yakko started to ask her what she meant, he caught a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye. By the door, he could see Babs holding Gabby, before putting her down on the floor to hold hands with the blue rabbit accompanying her.

"Oh crud…" Yakko muttered, as the three of them approached him… no, scratch that, made a direct bee-line for him, bearing down on him from across the room. He shot Slappy a "please don't leave me here alone" grimace, which was interrupted as Gabby bowled into his legs and held her arms up for a hug. Yakko obliged and, as they got closer, he heard her whisper in his ear:

"Don't get angry, Daddy. I love you."

_Because that was so reassuring._

Babs stood in front of him, smiling and fidgeting. She met his eye contact, opened her mouth to say "hi", and then looked away without saying anything.

_Oh God, it's bad. Like, nuclear meltdown bad._

Babs didn't get speechless or go quiet unless something was really, hideously wrong. Gabby, from her position standing slightly behind her father's legs, reached out and stroked his tail softly. He was twitching again. He shot her a thankful glance.

"Buster, Sweetie, you remember Yakko."

"Hey, Yakks, long time no see." Buster was his cool, chatty self, but Yakko could see a confusion in his eyes; a sort of, part-fear, part-resentment, part-guilt wariness that made it easy for Yakko to stare out the rabbit. Immature? Yes. Satisfying? Very. And it took the edge off hearing Babs call him "sweetie".

"Hey, Buster. Glad you could make it all the way up from Florida."

"Yeah, you know I hear this is the first time in years they're not having a ridiculous amount of rain or warm fronts." Slappy grinned, nudging her nephew in the ribs in a move that completely lacked anything resembling subtlety. "Guess they got a whole less hot air there this weekend."

Babs and Buster stared at Slappy, who stared right back at them, with her best "come on, insult me, I'm old" grin, before she grabbed her nephew's hand and demanded he help her get a drink. Leaving Yakko with his ex, and his ex's new guy. Not fun at all, and Yakko made a mental note that he no longer owed Slappy for anything. Ever.

"So, uh… Yakko." Buster smiled awkwardly, and Yakko suddenly found himself realising that he was a half-a-foot taller than the rabbit, and if it came down to it, he could probably take him in a fight… "We got some news, and we thought it was only going to be fair if we told you first."

Backstage, Wakko puffed air out through his cheeks. Abbi peeked out from the curtains, her tail twitching as she bounced up and down with excitement. Todd was sat next to Wakko on the small bench that ran next to the wall, trying hard to restrain himself.

"Wow, there's a lot of people out there…" Abbi was whispering excitedly. "Hey, look, Mr. Bunny's out there, and Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd! And hey, who's that old lady Slappy's talking to? Is she a deer? She looks like a deer. Hey, Todd, come see…"

"Abbi." Wakko snapped, slightly, having lost his thread for the seventh time as he failed to mentally recap his lines. "Can you just be quiet, please?"

Abbi looked like she had been shot in the paw. Wakko felt bad, but he was too nervous to fully register it.

Todd stopped bouncing beside him, and walked over to hold Abbi's hand.

Yakko swooped in from behind a curtain, his face unusually stern, his shoulders unusually tense. Gabby followed him cautiously, watching him like she was trying to protect him, but hunching her shoulders and clenching her hands. Was she… afraid?

"Yakko?"

"I'm fine." He clearly wasn't. "Where the hell is Dot?"

"I'm here." Dot pushed through the curtain and carried on walking, until she was leaning against the back wall.

"Wonderful. We're all so prepared." Yakko rolled his eyes. "Why did we even agree to do this?"

"Because." Dot spoke in an unimpressed deadpan. "We are kind and loving people who make valued friends."

"Please stop." Wakko sighed, trying (and failing) yet again to recap his lines. Christ, why was he so nervous? "It's not that big a deal. Let's just… do it, ok?" Dot scowled at him.

"That's easy for you to say. There is so much other stuff I could have been doing with this time, you know?"  
"Hey, you think I'm not busy? I have a baby to plan for."

"And I have a divorce to plan for."

Todd flinched. Gabby ran over to where her cousins stood, quietly watching the hissed exchange between their parents.

"Will both of you knock it off?" Yakko sighs, in a tone that he dimly recalls using back on the lot, when he was the primary caregiver of kids only a little younger than himself.

Dot and Wakko glare at each other, for a long, silent, tense moment. Eventually, they both back down, still scowling, and glare at the floor.

"She started it." It was a petulant mumble, almost a growl, but clear enough for Dot to hear, and in an instant, she and Wakko are standing, inches apart, pointing in each other's faces and firing off strings of angry words at each other, not even stopping to listen to what the other was saying. Gabby glanced around the edge of the curtain. It was a good thing their audience was being just as noisy.

Babs and Buster sit awkwardly, holding hands and exchanging the odd word, but looking genuinely ashamed of themselves.

_Good._ Gabby thinks, sparing her Dad a sorrowful glance, as he tries to ignore his arguing siblings. He has his hands over his eyes, like he's trying to push all of his thoughts deeper into his brain, so he doesn't have to think them. Gabby knows it won't last.

Abbi silently slips her hand into her cousin's, staring at the floor. Gabby's heart feels like it's melting in her chest as she sees her cousin, so lacking in her usual happy energy, staring mournfully out into the audience.

She's staring at her mother, who is looking, Gabby realises now, very tired.

Wakko and Dot are still arguing.

Yakko reaches his breaking point.

"Oh, will the pair of you please just shut up? I've got enough going on in my life without listening to you two snap at each other's throats."

"Stay out of it." Wakko scowled, exasperated and anxious.

"I'll get involved if I want to." Yakko felt himself squaring up, daring Wakko to answer back. "As the only schmoe around here with any sense."

"Sense? Don't start pulling that "big brother" thing now, you lost those rights." Dot practically spits it, before throwing herself down on the bench.

Yakko doesn't waste time in turning on her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, trying to make everyone happy. You know, this is so you; you're fair-weather at everything. The moment there's a problem, or someone needs the attention more than you, you're gone."

"That is not true…"

"Great. Another spat very well-handled, Yakko…"

"I'm not talking to you…"

The children stared at their parents. Their parents who were bickering selfishly, taking their frustration out on each other, taking it for granted that they would come back for more.

Gabby tore her eyes away and glanced out over the audience. The conversation had quietened, but most of the assembled toons were still paying them no notice.

Except for two.

Bugs had turned away from his conversation, a look of extreme focus in his face, his ears twitching as he listened. He caught Gabby's eye, and gave her a sympathetic look, which was full of sorrow and disappointment. He leant over and whispered something in Slappy's ear. Slappy was nodding, like she already knew. She smiled weakly at Gabby.

_They haven't learned anything._

Somehow, looking from Bugs' crestfallen face, to the arguing Warners, to her cousins, who both seemed so small, and resigned… and then to Slappy, who was arcing one eyebrow at her. She knew that look.

"_What are you gonna do, kid?"_

Gabby felt something spark in her chest, spreading up her spine to form an idea in her mind, and down into her stomach to form a solid strength. She gripped Abbi's hand tighter, and her cousin glanced at her.

"D'you want to make this better?"

"How?"

"Do you?"

Abbi nodded dumbly. Gabby turned to Todd, and gripped his hand, too.

"Todd? Will you help us?"

Todd tore his eyes away from the arguing adults, and nodded.

Swiftly, Gabby made her decision, and acted on it before her shyness could talk her out of it.

They marched out on stage, holding hands, standing in front of a sea of their supposed elders and betters. Slappy and Bugs were watching them closely, not commending, but not condemning. They waited.

"Hello."

Gabby's wavering, high pitched voice cut through the crowd, and everyone fell silent to watch them with interest. The cousins squeezed each other's hands.

"My name is Gabby Warner. Mrs Slappy is a friend of my Dad's, but she's my friend too because she looks after us sometimes, and comes out with us when we do fun things."

Abbi wasn't sure where the words came from, but she knew, just like Gabby had. She had to say what she felt.

"Mrs Slappy means a lot to us, and we wanted to make sure she had the best birthday ever. Which is why we're here talking to you, and not our parents."

A ripple of laughter spread through the audience. Abbi felt reassured.

"I'm Abbi Warner, by the way, and this is Todd Strizlecki."

"Warner."

"We're all cousins, and we just wanted to…" Abbi stopped. She blinked down at Todd, and exchanged a brief glance with Gabby. Todd stared up at them, before smiling out to the audience.

"I'm Todd Warner. The Strizleckis are a nice family, but they're all foxes."

His voice was… soft. It had the inexperienced catch to it, as many young children's do, as though they don't quite have control over their vocal chords. It was soft and tickly, and made Gabby think of fleece or being hit with a feather pillow. She beamed at him, and then at Abbi. She could see, in the wings, their parents had stopped arguing and were gawping at them.

"I don't really know what I am, but I'm not a fox. I don't have the ears for it."

Another ripple of laughter, this time peppered with a few cooing noises.

Gabby, another idea striking her, leapt down off the small stage and sat at the piano. A few people at the back of the hall craned so that they could see her.

Her heart thumping in her ears, she started to play.

"_Maybe you're a dog…" _ She sang to Todd, smiling. Abbi and Todd grinned back, picking up on the song immediately. _ "A cute little dog, with ears and a tail that you can wag…"_

"_Hey, go and fetch my slippers and play tag!" _Abbi giggled, putting on a demanding face. Todd stuck his tongue out at her. Yakko and Dot were supposed to do this routine with Abbi, asking her what she was. But they liked this way better, and still knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing.

"_Maybe I'm a cat, Whaddaya think of that? A lovely cat that all the world adores…" _Todd's singing voice had the same whispery tickle to it, but it was louder, more confident._ "And here's my kitty paws, with little kitty claws, which I like to sharpen on your couch!"_

Another ripple of laughter shot through the room, and Gabby glanced around to see some people swaying and singing along to themselves.

"_Maybe you're a bunny, hopping round here happy as you please! Or penguins where it's cold and it makes you sneeze!"_

Todd promptly sneezed and fell over, landing on his bottom. Abbi grabbed his arm and pulled him back up, swinging him around into a piggy back.

"_I've got it, of course! Maybe you're a horse? You can live on oats and hay, and run and jump and laugh and play and we can ride on you all day…"_

Todd leapt off her, and feigned anger. _"No way."_

Abbi sat on the edge of the stage, and sang to Gabby.

"_Hey, maybe he's a skunk?"_

"_No that would really stink."_

"_A dinosaur could be real fun!"_

"_But then he'd be extinct!"_

"_Maybe he's an insect… do you like bugs and bees?"_

"You girls are buggy in the head!"  
_"Maybe you're a giant flea!"_

Abbi stood, and began circling Todd, still singing with Gabby. She poked him, and he made weird faces.

"_Maybe an electric eel?"_

"_A seal?"_

"_Get real! Hey wait a minute, I've got it now!"_

"_You do!"_

"_Yes I do! He's not a slug and not a bat, or a dog or a horse or a thing like that, what he is, is clear and absolute! What our cousin Todd is…"_

"_Is cute!" _All three of them harmonised, and the audience applauded. Abbi held her hand out for her cousin, and Gabby gratefully accepted the helping hand back up onto the stage.

"Thank you." Abbi smiled. "It's good that you liked that."

Gabby smiled, feeling excitement rush through her. She saw Bugs and Slappy, grinning at her like she'd chosen the right answer.

"Well, I think our parents have finally stopped being silly, so they're going to come out here and entertain you now instead." Abbi smiled, gripping Todd's hand. Todd gripped Gabby's hand, in turn.

"Please be nice to them." Todd smiled, his face the picture of childish innocence.

"Sometimes they're not as mature as us." Gabby nodded, to a wave of laughter. They ran offstage, just as their parents walked on. Gabby and Yakko made eye contact, and he smiled at her. She stuck her tongue out. When she had walked past him, Yakko mimed kicking her, which the audience laughed at. The Warner cousins hugged each other as they got off stage, before breaking into excited whispers as their parents continued the act. They were amazed, everyone was amazing. Todd even spoke another few words, although he still wasn't as chatty as his cousins. Gabby hugged him again, whispering about how brave he was.

Then Abbi hugged them, and they all fell over.

Then Abbi and Todd had to run back on stage for the next sketch they were in.

Gabby sat down, glad and a little nauseous.

Yakko stood backstage, his forehead resting against the cool brick wall, his breath beginning to even out again.

He'd forgotten how much he loved performing.

He felt light, delicate hands on his shoulders. They moved so that they twined around his chest, and he felt a smaller, slimmer individual than himself giving him a hug.

"We are doofs."

"Yup."

"Massive, massive doofs."

He turned around and hugged Dot back, resting his chin on her head. He was secretly quite pleased he could still do that.

"Yup. We just got schooled at showmanship by our own children."

"Who are still in elementary school."

"I'm ashamed. But proud."

There was silence, as Dot nestled her head into her brother's chest.

"He's talking." She said, eventually, and Yakko could hear the emotion in her voice. "He's talking, and his first statement to the world was to declare that he's a _Warner._"

"Well…" Yakko grinned, rocking her slightly from side to side. "We did know he was a smart kid."

Dot laughed. They continued to sway.

"What were you so upset about, earlier?" She looked up at him. All the tense, preoccupied and misdirected anger from earlier was gone. Her eyes were overflowing with concern. Yakko sighed.

He considered denying it, saying "nothing's wrong" and moving on. But he knew it would be a bad idea.

"Babs." He stopped swaying, hugging Dot tighter again. "She and Buster are… getting m…" He couldn't say it. He cleared his throat.

It hurt too bad.

Sure, he was over her. He wouldn't go near that trainwreck if you paid him, but she was the mother of his child, and the fact that she could do this made him hurt. It made him feel… slow. Insignificant. Angry. Any number of words raced through her mind. He tried a different ploy.

"Buster proposed."

Dot tensed. She rested her head on his chest again, listening to his ragged breathing. She closed her eyes.

"She always has been wildly inappropriate."

Yakko chuckled, grimly, leaning his back against the wall. Dot kept hold of his hands. "You don't need her. You've got me, and Wakko, and Gabby. Todd, and Abbi, too. All of us, we're here for you."

"I know. But… Yurk." He finished, making a weird face. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"Do you still love her?"

He sighed.

"No?"

"Really? You're not going to be judged by me, of all people. Do you love her?"

"No."

"Well then. You'll live. It's not ideal, but Gabby can go see her over the holidays, if she wants. And you don't have to. You can get on with your life… We. We can get on with our lives. We'll be single divorcees together."

Dot smiled at him, and Yakko felt himself smiling back. He stood up.

"You're going through with it, then?"

Dot nodded.

"He's not the man I married. He's… different."

"Fair enough." Yakko wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and they left the backstage area together. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "I never liked him anyway."

Abbi ran around the tables, dancing to whatever cheesy music was playing over the speakers. Tellulah rested her head on Wakko's arm.

"I'm sorry."

He rolled his eyes, smiling.

"It's not your fault the Warners have a history of inappropriate responses to conflict."  
"I'm horrible lately. I think I need to see a doctor." She sighed, her eyes sad. "I shouldn't be this upset, not all the time. I just… I worry that…"

"You always worry, 'Lu." He wrapped his arm around her, kissing her forehead. "It's your thing. It's one of the adorable things that make you who you are. But you're going to worry yourself silly. So let me worry, for once. You just keep yourself happy."

She smiled, and hugged him. He hugged back.

Abbi ran up to them, smiling.

"There's drinks being made in the kitchen. Would you like anything?"

"No thanks, Ab." Wakko smiled, but Tellulah saw what her daughter was getting at. She saw the nervous flicker in her daughter's eyes, the slight twitch of her tail.

"I'd like some water, please. And a great, big hug.

Abbi was more than happy to oblige.

Todd looked out over the happily crowded room, seeing his family and, for once, feeling at ease. He wasn't happy about his parents splitting up, of course he wasn't. But he could see his mother smiling now, and, if it meant they both got to be happy, he could stand a little rough patch. Besides, he had Abbi and Gabby to help him get through it.

He looked at them. Abbi had made up with her mother. Gabby was stronger, now, and she and her father were closer than ever. He wondered if Gabby would be joining him or Abbi at their theatre classes after such an impressive show. He doubted it; just because she stood up there once, doesn't mean she would want to act any more, but he'd love to see her perform some more.

And what about him?

Bugs rested a gentle hand on Todd's shoulder.

"That was a good job up there, kid. You should be proud."

Todd smiled up at his principal.

"Are we gonna be hearing more from you in the future?"

Todd shrugged. He smiled again, saluted, and ran off into the crowd, tackling Abbi and joining forces with both cousins to wage acts of mischief.

"Huh. At least one of them knows how to act their age, huh?" Bugs grinned at Slappy, who was observing her guests quietly. He sat down next to her.

"That's a scary look on your face there, Slap."

"Huh? Who, me?" Slappy batted her eyelashes in what had to be the most sarcastic expression of innocence ever.

"Yeah, it looks to me like you're thinking. Last time that happened, we needed three ambulances. So answer me this. How much of tonight's entertainments did you have planned?"

"Enough." Slappy shrugged. "Let's get that old tail of yours dancing."

It wasn't a happy ever after. But, as the Warner siblings and Warner cousins danced together, laughing and hugging, they realised that all of the problems seemed a lot smaller, once they all admitted they had had enough of growing up.


End file.
